‘I was asked to cause maximum casualties’

Terrorist held at Girgaum reveals trail from Pak

DNA EXCLUSIVE

MUMBAI: The only terrorist in the hands of the police has given details of his deadly mission in his statement. The statement was given at the DB Marg (Lamington Road) police station and DNA has gained access to it. It is signed by Azam Amir Qasab, 21, who has identified himself as a resident of Faridkot in Chipaalpura taluka of Ukhad zilla in Punjab, Pakistan.

“I was trained by militants of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba in Pakistan for three months and asked to cause maximum casualties in Mumbai,” says the statement.

Qasab has given details of the training imparted by the LeT in Pakistan to 15 men, the modus operandi that they were to use, their journey to Mumbai, and how anti-terrorism expert Hemant Karkare and two other police officers were killed.

According to the first information report filed on the basis of the statement, the group was trained for three months followed by a month’s break. This was followed by another month’s training, “wherein we were trained how to hijack vessels at sea. We were indoctrinated by showing us CDs of atrocities on Muslims in India.” They were also shown the locations where they were to operate and cause maximum damage, he said in the statement. 

A few days before landing in Mumbai, the group of 15 terrorists, with a few associates armed with sophisticated weapons, explosives, and inflatable rafts, started their journey in a boat from Karachi. “At Porbandar, they hijacked an Indian trawler carrying five Indian fishermen. They forced four of the crew to sit in the boat heading back to Karachi. They (the terrorists) then boarded the Indian trawler, took one Indian captive, and travelled ahead,” said the FIR.

Four nautical miles away from the Mumbai coast at Badhwar Park in Cuffe Parade, they allegedly killed the hostage fisherman identified as Amar Singh Nazan, resident of Gujarat, by slitting his throat. They then arrived at Badhwar Park on their inflatable rafts at around 8.30pm on November 26, the FIR said.

“We then dispersed and left for our mission ahead. I along with my associate Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan, 25, also a resident of Punjab in Pakistan, left for CST railway station,” Qasab told the police. The FIR further said that after firing at CST, the duo went towards Cama Hospital through the narrow lane before Azad Maidan police station and moved ahead towards Rang Bhavan near St Xavier’s College.

“ATS chief Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar, and additional commissioner Ashok Kamte who were heading near the special branch office at Azad Maidan, stopped a vehicle (a Qualis) driven by assistant commissioner of Pydhonie division Shantilal Bhambre and asked him to give his vehicle to them.

The Qualis was then driven by Salaskar, while the other two were sitting behind,” said a police officer on condition of anonymity, explaining the sequence of events that led to the killing of the officers.

The officer added that as soon as the vehicle neared the special branch office, Qasab and Ismail Khan, who were on the main road corner of Rang Bhavan, opened fire at the Qualis. The vehicle kept moving and subsequently the officers were shot dead by the terrorists.

Qasab and Ismail then hijacked the police vehicle and drove towards Metro. While Qasab was driving the vehicle, Ismail was firing indiscriminately at the police and public on the road. One tyre of the Qualis got punctured near Vidhan Bhavan and the two quickly came out of the car looking for another vehicle.

“They stopped a Skoda car (MH-02 JP-1276) in which a couple was travelling. They assaulted the couple, threw them out of the car, and drove ahead. At Girgaum Chowpatty at about 12:30am, they were stopped at a police checkpoint,” the police officer said.

Assistant police inspector Hemant Bavdankar, sub-inspector Bhaskar Kadam and six constables from the DB Marg police station were at the checkpoint and started firing at the car. While Qasab survived the attack with a bullet injury, Ismail Khan died. Qasab was apprehended. The police recovered two AK-47 assault rifles, five magazines, two automatic pistols, and one hand grenade from the duo.

Qasab was rushed to Nair Hospital, from where he was shifted to another government hospital. An FIR against Qasab and Ismail Khan was then registered at the DB Marg police station for killing assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble in the shootout.
s_somendranath@dnaindia.net