From a petty thief to a dreaded terrorist. This is how one could describe Ajmal Kasab, the terrorist who is in the custody of the Mumbai police in connection with the dreaded Mumbai terror attack case.
Kasab, who has studied only up to the 4th standard, told interrogators on Monday that he was a petty thief before joining the Lashkar-e-Tayiba. He said that he was never interested in school and hence dropped out. He took to burglary and did that for a couple of years. He said that the ideologies of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba impressed him and hence decided to join the dreaded outfit.
Once he was in the camp, he was told that there was a need to do something for his religion. He was also told that how due to foreign oppression his religion was under threat and hence there was a need to fight.
Training: Kasab also told that several men, including him, were chosen for the training camp. He said that they were trained at the Murdike training camp of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in Pakistan. He said that there were several rounds of training which included armed combat, maritime training and also training in the use of GPS. He said that the LeT ensured that they were well prepared to carry out the attack. He said that from the time they left Pakistan and reached Mumbai they had no problems at all. Everything went as per plan, he said. We were shown videos of the targets over and over again and we were told that the operation cannot go wrong at any cost.
The Muridke camp of the LeT which is also known as the Markaz-e-Toiba or the Centre of the Pure is one of the most prestigious camps of the dreaded outfit. The camp is housed on 200 acres and is highly guarded by LeT cadres at all times. The LeT had however denied that the Murdike camp was training terrorists.
Original plan: Kasab also said that the entire attack was planned by Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhwi. He said that the brief given to them was to kill as many as possible and target Americans and Israelis in particular. He said that the initial plan was to storm into the Taj and Trident, take the hostages to the roof top and kill them one by one. Kasab also said that after killing the hostages the plan was to blow up both the buildings. Regarding the Nariman House, Kasab said that this place was attacked only with an intention of targeting Israelis. Kasab said that each of them had come into Mumbai with an AK-47 rifle, grenades and a mobile phone.
All from Pakistan: Though it was being said since the beginning that all the men who took part in the attack were from Pakistan, the ATS has now got specific information regarding the place all the terrorists were from.
The Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad said that as per the details they have managed to obtain from Ajmal Kasab and intelligence inputs, it is confirmed that the 10 men who had carried out the attack were all from Pakistan.
The ATS says that 3 terrorists were from Multan, 3 from Okara, 1 from Faizabad, 1 Sialkot and 1 from Ismail Dera Islam. These men were handpicked by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba from different parts of Pakistan to carry out the attack on Mumbai, an investigating officer told rediff.com.
He also said that this only establishes a stronger link that all the men who carried out the Mumbai attack were from Pakistan soil.
The ATS also says that they will also question Kasab on Fahim Ansari, the man who is believed to have facilitated the Mumbai attack by gathering video footage of the targets in Mumbai. Ansari was arrested in connection with the Fidayeen attack at the CRPF camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh [Images]. The Mumbai police have now sought custody of Ansari.