Prosecution concludes case in Mumbai terrorism trial

The prosecution Wednesday concluded its case in the Mumbai terrorism trial as the special court said it would record the statement of the sole surviving Pakistani gunman soon.

The prosecution completed presenting evidence from 610 witnesses against Ajmal Kasab and two Indian defendants, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said outside the special court in Mumbai.

'The trial began May 8 and in about seven months the prosecution today closed the case,' Nikam was quoted by the PTI news agency as saying.

Special Judge ML Tahilyani said the court would record Kasab's statement Friday.

Kasab, a militant from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit, faces 86 charges ranging from waging war on India to murder, kidnapping and destabilizing the government. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

The prosecution's aim was not only to prove the case against Kasab, but also expose the prime conspirators from the LeT, Nikam said.

'Kasab is one of the instruments of the terrorist outfit. He and the nine other slain terrorists were a small part of LeT which wanted to inflict serious damage to India by attacking its commercial capital,' the prosecutor said.

The charges allege key planners of the assaults included LeT leaders Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah.

The attacks damaged relations between the two South Asian nuclear neighbours India and Pakistan and derailed a five-year peace process.

Local media reported that a verdict in the case is expected early next year.

Kasab initially denied the charges, but in a dramatic confession in July admitted to his role in the bloodbath and asked to be hanged. His request was not accepted and the trial continued.

According to the prosecution, Kasab was arrested early November 27 last year, the morning after he and nine other terrorists landed in Mumbai by boat from Karachi and launched the attacks.

The terrorists struck with explosives and rifle fire at 13 places - including two hotels, a train station, a cafe and Jewish centre - and by the time the siege ended three days later, at least 166 people, including 26 foreign nationals, were dead.

Alleged Terrorism Plotter David Headley

The mantra long invoked to justify American military engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq — we're fighting extremists there so we don't have to fight them here — has taken a beating of late. In September came the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, the Colorado man accused of plotting perhaps the gravest U.S. terrorist attack since 9/11. November saw Major Nidal Malik Hasangun down 13 people — including 12 of his fellow U.S. soldiers — at Ford Hood, Texas, in the deadliest assault on a military base in U.S. history. The latest blow came Dec. 7, when the U.S. Justice Department filed new charges against David Headley, 49, an American citizen arrested in October for allegedly helping plot a 2008 killing spree by Pakistan-based militants in Mumbai that killed more than 160 people, including six Americans. Headley is also charged with plotting terrorist attacks against the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, whose 2005 publication of controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad sparked protests throughout the Muslim world. The 12 criminal counts, including six counts of aiding and abetting the murder of U.S. citizens in India, expand the government's case against Headley and drive home the unsettling idea that the U.S. can no longer rely on its borders to keep extremism out.

Fast Facts:
• Born Daood Gilani in Washington, D.C., in 1960 to a Pakistani father and an American mother. Lives with his wife and children in Chicago.

• After his parents' divorce, returned to Pakistan with his father and was raised in a traditional Muslim household until moving to Philadelphia at age 17 to live with his mother.

• Attended the Community College of Philadelphia, but left school before receiving a degree.

• Worked in a bar and a series of video stores after leaving school.

• Convicted on heroin-smuggling charges in 1998; served 15 months in prison. Headley later worked for the Drug Enforcement Administration, in part to avoid a lengthier jail sentence.

• Allegedly received training from Kashmiri separatist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) from February 2002 to December 2003. The group, which aims to drive Indian forces out of the disputed territory of Kashmir, is considered a foreign terrorist operation by the U.S. government.

• Changed his name to David Headley (Headley being his mother's maiden name) in 2005. Authorities say the change was made to ease travel and make him seem more American while working for LeT.

• Since his alleged training with LeT, has traveled frequently between Pakistan, India, the Middle East and the U.S.• Visited India more than nine times in three years and allegedly scoped out Mumbai Harbor in 2008, looking for places for the Mumbai attackers to land their boat in advance of their Nov. 26 assault.

• Claimed to have been employed by First World Immigration Services, a company owned by Pakistan-born Canadian citizen Tahawwur Hussain Rana. Rana was arrested on conspiracy charges.

Quotes By:
"Some of us are saying that 'terrorism' is the weapon of the cowardly. I will say that you may call it barbaric or immoral or cruel, but never cowardly ... Courage is, by and large, exclusive to the Muslim nation."
— From a February 2009 e-mail to high school classmates, one of many he wrote defending Muslim extremism (New York Times, Nov. 22, 2009)

"The best way for a man to die is with the sword."
— In an e-mail defending the beheading of a Polish engineer by Taliban fighters in Pakistan (New York Times, Nov. 22, 2009)

Quotes About:
"He came in, talked to people, talked to Dr. Rana, worked on the computer a little bit and didn't say a lot."
— Raymond Sanders, an immigration lawyer who rented office space from Headley's co-defendant, Tahawwur Hussain Rana (Washington Post, Nov. 20, 2009)

"You might as well be telling me my nephew is being charged with 9/11. That's like pouring cold water inside me. He's been in trouble before, but we thought something like this was beyond his character."
— William Headley, David Headley's uncle (New York Times, Dec. 7, 2009)

"He would clearly state he had contempt for infidels. He kept talking about the return of the 14th century, saying Islam was going to take over the world."
— Lorenzo Lacovara, a former worker at a Philadelphia bar run by Headley's mother

India publishes 'proof' dossier on Mumbai attacks

India dramatically ramped up its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan today, releasing evidence linking "elements" in the neighbouring nuclear-armed state to the Mumbai terror attacks for the first time.

A dossier handed to Pakistan's high commission in Delhi included interceptions of telephone calls made between the ten Mumbai gunmen and their alleged handlers in Pakistan during the attacks. "The commanders in Pakistan are following events on television and are issuing real-time instructions; telling the gunmen to target certain nationalities and religions; to maximise casualties; not to touch Muslims. This is hands-on direction," a senior Indian government official told The Times.

The commands included the order to execute six foreign Jews held at Nariman House, an orthodox Jewish outreach centre, during the Mumbai atrocities, which claimed more than 170 lives in all.

Those giving the orders are alleged to be senior members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based terrorist faction that Indian officials believe still has the support of Pakistan's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). They include Zarar Shah, the LeT's communications chief, who has been arrested in Pakistan and is believed to have admitted his role to Pakistani investigators. "He played a major part," Rakesh Maria, the officer in charge of the police investigation in Mumbai, said

The dossier, which has also been passed to diplomats from countries including the UK and US, also includes an alleged confession from Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the sole Mumbai gunman to be captured alive. He says he is a Pakistani national who was trained for more than a year by the LeT in Pakistan. Details of the terrorists' weapons, GPS navigation systems and satellite and mobile phones are also included.

India expects the dossier to increase international pressure on Pakistan to dismantle the support network used by Islamist militants within its borders, much of which dates back to the CIA's backing of Pakistan-based jihadists against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan during the Cold War.

India is also demanding that Pakistan hand over several terror suspects linked to the Mumbai attacks. However, Islamabad has already said it would not comply to such a request and may settle for access being given to them by the FBI, which helped compile key parts of the Indian dossier.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said: "It is my duty to examine the dossier carefully and be truthful to myself, to my country and the neighbourhood."

However, the file is unlikely to contain much that Pakistan's security services are not already aware of, analysts said. Ajit Doval, a former director of India's Intelligence Bureau, said: "It will not carry anything spectacular; more likely it will contain refinements of information already widely known. In any case, Pakistan already has more than enough evidence to act upon if they are willing."

Publically, Pakistan government officials have said that India has failed to provide proof of the involvement of Pakistani nationals in the Mumbai strikes. However, Pakistan's own investigators have already arrested Mr Shah, of the LeT, who has told them that he was in contact with the gunmen who carried out the attack.

Mr Shah was arrested in December in a raid on a militant camp in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. His detention came as tensions sharply escalated between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai issue. In recent days, both countries have insisted they have no appetite for war but each has pointedly refused to rule out the possibility of conflict.

The Indian dossier falls short of explicitly implicating the Pakistani state in the Mumbai attacks but hints strongly at the involvement of the country's powerful spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which helped create the LeT. Shivshankar Menon, India's foreign secretary, said: "It's hard to believe that something of this scale that took so long in preparation ... could occur without anybody anywhere in the [Pakistani] establishment knowing that this was happening."

Over the weekend, P Chidambaram, the Home Minister, said that the dossier was "unanswerable. No one in his right mind can give answer to this evidence." He also pointed a finger at the ISI. He said:

"Somebody who is familiar with intelligence and somebody who is familiar with commando operations has directed this operation. And that can not be entirely a non-state actor."

26/11 could have been averted

Mumbai cops had paid heed to a specific intelligence report two years ago

Had the Mumbai police paid heed to a specific intelligence alert, two years ago, that terrorists were planning to use the sea route to attack Mumbai, the carnage on November 26 could have been averted. The attack claimed 188 lives and left over 300 injured.

A senior IPS officer from the Crime Branch had circulated the alert message to his units, and had cautioned his staff to be extra vigilant during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

The letter states that during interrogation some arrested militants had revealed that the Pakistan Navy was imparting navigational training, particularly to LeT terrorists, along with selected cadre from other 'tanzeems' like Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaish-e-Mohammed etc.

The then Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Meeran Borwankar confirmed that the alert message was received. She added, "We did discuss the possibilities during a combined meeting and were also concerned about the same."

Another IPS officer said, "We do receive such alerts regularly, but one should understand that Maharashtra has a 720-km coast and manning it with limited resources is impossible."

He added, "Terrorists need not come to Mumbai's coastal area to offload explosives like the 1993 incident. It is a known fact that oil pilferages happen mid sea and at times instead of oil, it is RDX that changes hands and we can do nothing."

Locations of some of the attacks
Location	Mumbai, India
Date	26 November 2008, 9:20 pm[1] – 29 November 2008 (IST, UTC +5:30)
Attack type	Bombings, shootings, hostage crisis[2]
Weapon(s)	RDX, AK-47, AK-56 and grenades[3]
Deaths	183[4][5]
Injured	327+[6]
Suspected perpetrator(s)	Controversial; suspects include the previously unknown Deccan Mujahideen,[7], the Indian Mujahideen,[8] Lashkar-e-Taiba,[9] Dawood Ibrahim,[9] and Al Qaeda[10]
Number of participant(s)	Unclear, sources say between 10 and 25[11][12][13]
Defender(s)	Mumbai Police, Anti Terrorist Squad, MARCOS,[14] National Security Guards.[15]

[show] Attacks with 50+ deaths in bold Indian Parliament attack – Srinagar – Akshardham Temple attack – 1st Mumbai 2003 – 2nd Mumbai 2003 – Ayodhya – Delhi 2005 – Varanasi – Jama Masjid – Mumbai 2006 – Malegaon – Samjhauta Express – Mecca Masjid – Hyderabad – Uttar Pradesh – Jaipur – Bangalore – Ahmedabad – 1st Delhi 2008 – 2nd Delhi 2008 – Western India – Agartala – Imphal – Assam – Mumbai 2008

PM salutes Marytrs ATS chief and NSG commando

Mumbai/Bangalore: Bangalore bid a tearful farewell to National Security Guard commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan while in Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare has been cremated.

Major Unnikrishnan was martyred on Friday morning while trying to save one of his colleagues at the Taj.

The 31-year-old Major, born on March 15, 1977 and the only son of retired ISRO officer K Unnikrishnan, joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the 7th Battalion of Bihar Regiment in 1999.

Major Unnikrishnan was with the 51 Special Action Group of the NSG.

The officer had joined the NSG on deputation in January 2007 after having served two tenures with his battalion in counter insurgency and counter terrorism roles.

He led a commando team to clear Taj Hotel on November 27. The operation was code named Operation Cyclone.

When one of the commando of his team was injured, Major Unnikrishnan went in to evacuate him and spotted one of the terrorists.

Major Unnikrishnan engaged the terrorist in a gunbattle and had overpowered him but another terrorist who was hiding in the room fired at him seriously injuring the brave officer. Major Unnikrishnan succumbed to his injuries soon.

Another NSG commando Havaldar Gajendra Singh was killed during the operations at the Jewish centre, Nariman House.

The operation at Nariman House was code named Black Tornado.

Karkare was killed along with two other top policemen, Additional Commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and police inspector Vijay Salaskar at Cama Hospital near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal when they came under fire from terrorists on Wednesday night

Deccan Mujahideen

The word Deccan - corruption of the word dakshin or dakhin - immediately conjures up the image of Hyderabad. But the police in

Hyderabad say that they have never heard of an outfit called "Mujahideen Hyderabad Deccan,"- that has claimed to have carried the operations in Mumbai- ever before.

"We haven't come across anything of this sort before," director general of police of Andhra Pradesh S S P Yadav said. "No central or state intelligence agency has ever mentioned that to us," Andhra Pradesh home minister Jana Reddy added.

Analysts who are experts at picking cues from phrases and communications however feel that there could be an indirect connection of the militant group that carried out attacks with Hyderabad. "After Hyderabad was integrated with the Indian union in 1948, there was large-scale migration from the Nizam's state to Pakistan, the UK and the USA.

It is possible that elements involved in the operation had some of their ancestors hailing from Hyderabad and they are using the name to connect with their original homeland," a senior police officer said.

Other analysts pointed out after 1948 not only did the issue of Kashmir reach the United Nations, but even the Nizam in his last days had sent a team to the same agency seeking an independence for Hyderabad in the aftermath of the Independence of India and its Partition. Intelligence officials said that they knew that there were elements in Pakistan who still were not reconciled to the incorporation of Hyderabad to India.

"We know it for a fact that in 2004, Jaish-e- Mohammad militants led by Maulana Masood Azhar had in one of their conclaves in Pakistan had decided to focus on the issue of independence of Hyderabad. What we see today is probably an assertion of this point of view," the intelligence source said.

He added that with Kashmir now at the centre stage, militants want to open up another contentious issue and hope that it would have some emotive appeal. Along with Kashmir and Hyderabad, Junagadh's accession to India had also been challenged by some. But Junagadh is a small district in Gujarat and its potential for generating emotive appeal amongst ex-Junagadhi's abroad is little.

Other analysts who believe that Mujahideen Hyderabad Deccan "is real and not a red herring" said that nothing called Indian Mujahideen had also been heard till the rash of terror attacks in the country in the last few months. "But it was found that the term denoted the emergence of home grown terrorists and that was proven with the arrest of many educated merchants of death. The same could be the case with Mujahideen Hyderabad Deccan," the officer said.

Director general Yadav however parried questions and tried to deflect the issue saying that the term Deccan denoted Deccan plateau and could denote any place between Pune and Hyderabad. Analysts however ruled out the direct connection of any present Hyderabad citizen with the militant group because the attacks bear the stamp of a high motivated and trained foreign agency.

"The most that we can see is that local underworld elements in Mumbai

may have helped in the landing of the militants in the vicinity of Gateway of India. This is not the job of any local Hyderabad trained ultra," a police source said.

source:TOI

Captured terrorist

Confessions by captured terrorist

Azam Amir Kasav,^[88] an 18 year old terrorist was caught and taken to the Nair hospital. According to preliminary investigations by intelligence agencies, Azam is from from Faridkot in Pakistan^[88] and had received arms training in Pakistan.^[89] Ammunition, a satellite phone and a layout plan of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus was recovered from him. He has provided many clues to the investigation agencies and has reportedly described how they arrived at Mumbai from Karachi via Porbandar. He has reportedly said that he and other terrorists had received automatic loading revolvers, AK-57, bullet magazines and dry fruits from their coordinator.^[89] Azam reportedly told the police that they wanted to replicate the attack on Islamabad's JW Marriot hotel attack, and reduce the Taj Hotel to rubbles, replicating the 9/11 attacks in India

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Homage to Brave Men

Mumbai: A large number of people turned out to pay their last respects to Maharahstra's slain Anti-Terrorism Sqaud (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, whose body was taken in a procession from his residence in Dadar to the crematorium in Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai.

Besides several top police officials like Hassan Gafoor, Rakesh Maria and K L Prasad, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, his deputy R R Patil, Ministers Chhagan Bhujbal and Harshvardhan Patil paid homage to Karkare.

Karkare, who is being given a state funeral, was shot dead by terrorists along with encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte near Cama Hospital.

Karkare, a 1982 batch IPS officer, did stints at Nanded, Akola, Thane and Bhiwandi and Mumbai. Before taking the post of ATS chief, Karkare worked with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for sometime.

Tearful adieu to Sandeep Unnikrishnan

Bangalore on Friday bid a tearful farewell to Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, the NSG Commando officer who was killed in the bloodiest counter-offensive at the Taj hotel in Mumbai.

Finally Ends

Mumbai: The terrorist siege of Mumbai ended this morning with security forces killing all gunmen in the flushing-out operations to secure the iconic Taj hotel, nearly 62 hours after a band of ultras struck at various centres in the country's financial capital.

Commandos carried out combing operations in the 529-room hotel, the last theatre of action. But by way of abundant caution the NSG refused to declare that the operations were over.

There was no immediate word on recovery of bodies in Taj. The death toll in the terrorist mayhem has already reached 190 including 14 police and NSG personnel. In all, 14 terrorists were killed and one captured alive.

"Three terrorists have been killed but the operations are still on. Until we search the entire hotel room-by-room and satisfy ourselves that are no more terrorists, I will not declare the operations over," NSG Director General J K Dutt told reporters shortly after 0830 hours.

"Only guests could be there. There may be no terrorists," he said.

An AK-47 rifle was also recovered from them. "There was lot of shooting. Grenades were lobbed and explosives were used by the terrorists," he said.

The elimination of the three terrorists came after intense battle between the commandos, who believed there was a lone gunman holding out, and the terrorists who kept exploding grenades at periodic intervals.

Dutt said the terrorists set off fires whenever they came under pressure as a diversionary tactics.

On Friday, the security forces had regained control of the Oberoi-Trident hotel and the Nariman House where five Israeli hostages were killed.