MUMBAI: Rejecting Pakistani navy chief Admiral Noman Bashir's claim that the 10 terrorists did not use the sea route to reach Mumbai, city crime branch said that the four Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices recovered from the terrorists revealed that they did come by the sea.
"The GPS was switched on in the Pakistani waters and the devices showed locations near Karachi,'' said crime branch chief Rakesh Maria. To add more to it, Maria said, "The GPS was switched on along at least 50 positions in Pakistan. The terrorists were trained to use GPS.''
According to the Mumbai police, the terrorists had sailed in a Pakistani ship, Al-Husseini, before they took over a fishing trawler, M V Kuber to reach the city.
On February 13, Pakistan's interiror minister, Rehman Malik, admitted that the terrorists belonged to Pakistan and had sailed through Pakistani waters. However, Bashir's claim contradicts his own minister's official statement.
Crime branch officers said they had seized logbooks from Kuber, which was maintained by the terrorists to continue their "guard'' duty on the fishing trawler. The logbook, made for a 24-hour journey, registered the names of nine out of 10 terrorists and their duties on a two-hour rotation. While nine terrorists were killed during the carnage, the youngest, 21-year-old Ajmal Kasab, was captured alive.
The terrorists had also killed four crew members of Kuber before they did away with the navigator. The police had recovered a satellite phone and at least 16 Pakistani items from fishing trawler. Maria added that the terrorists, who went to Nariman House, also used another GPS.
According to Maria, Major General Saab, who is among the 35 wanted accused named in the 11,202-page charge sheet on 26/11, was responsible for "motivational and operational'' functions during the gun battle. "It was he who instructed the terrorists how to take position and fire. It was he who instructed to set fire,'' said the officer.
At least 30 witnesses have identified Kasab while 29 other witnesses had identified the dead bodies. "Two bodies could not be identified since they were completely charred,'' said Maria. Four persons have identified the local conspirators, Faheem Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed. He added that four SIM cards, one purchased in Delhi, one in Kolkata and two in Kashmir, were seized from the terrorists.
Times of India
Despite warnings that neatness counted and penmanship was graded alongside academic subjects in school, the best handwriting from my pen or pencil ended up closer to chicken scratch. Now I've revisited my sloppy curves and uneven squiggles in an attempt to tidy up my handwriting to create a legible font.
