‘Insider’ nails Pak for 26/11

‘Insider’ nails Pak for 26/11

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 11:37 PM IST
article-image

26/11 planned, launched from Pak: reveals ex-top sleuth Tariq Khosa

Islamabad : In deeply embarrassing disclosures for Pakistan, its chief investigator of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack has stated that the mayhem was planned and launched from this country and that the operation was directed from an ops room in Karachi.

Tariq Khosa, a top police officer who was made Director General of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) weeks after the 2008 Mumbai attack that left 166 people dead, has written a revealing article in Dawn newspaper giving graphic details of the plot and its investigation, thereby confirming what India has been saying for long.

Khosa, who has held top posts in the Pakistan government and Interpol besides initiating criminal investigation into former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s assassination in 2007, wrote that “Pakistan has to deal with the Mumbai mayhem, planned and launched from its soil. This requires facing the truth and admitting mistakes.”

He also demanded that Pakistan’s state security apparatus should ensure that the perpetrators and masterminds of the “ghastly terror attacks” are brought to justice.

Noting that the case has lingered on for far too long, Khosa said dilatory tactics by the defendants, frequent change of trial judges and assassination of the case prosecutor as well as retracting from original testimony by some key witnesses have been serious setbacks for the prosecutors.

Laying down the facts of the Mumbai attack trial in the article, Khosa writes, “First, Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani national, whose place of residence and initial schooling as well as his joining a banned militant organisation was established by the investigators. “Second, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were imparted training near Thatta, Sindh, and launched by sea from there. The training camp was identified and secured by the investigators,” he writes. Khosa also pointed out that the casings of the explosive devices used in Mumbai were recovered from this training camp and duly matched. “Third, the fishing trawler used by the terrorists for hijacking an Indian trawler in which they sailed to Mumbai, was brought back to harbour, then painted and concealed. It was recovered by the investigators and connected to the accused,” he writes. “Fourth, the engine of the dinghy abandoned by the terrorists near Mumbai harbour contained a patent number through which the investigators traced its import from Japan to Lahore and then to a Karachi sports shop from where an LeT-linked militant purchased it along with the dinghy,” he added. Khosa also talks about the money trail that was followed and linked to the accused who was arrested.

“Fifth, the ops room in Karachi, from where the operation was directed, was also identified and secured by the investigators. The communications through Voice over Internet Protocol were unearthed,” Khosa writes. “Sixth, the alleged commander and his deputies were identified and arrested. Seventh, a couple of foreign-based financiers and facilitators were arrested and brought to face trial,” he says.

Khosa writes that people in Pakistan should welcome the development of the meeting between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in Ufa, Russia, last month. He also, significantly, calls on the Pakistan government to remove the distinction between the good and bad Taliban.

India asserts its stand vindicated

New Delhi : India feels that its stand is vindicated in the disclosures made by the Pakistani chief investigator of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks that the carnage was planned and launched from his country and the operation was directed from an ops room in Karachi. “We have always insisted that the 2008 terror attack were planned, financed and carried out by people from Pakistan.

Also, it is our view that 99 per cent of the evidence in the Mumbai case is in Pakistan,” government sources said.

RECENT STORIES

Latest News: PM Narendra Modi is addressing Indian community in Bahrain

Latest News: PM Narendra Modi is addressing Indian community in Bahrain

Latest News! Delegation of opposition party leaders to visit Srinagar tomorrow

Latest News! Delegation of opposition party leaders to visit Srinagar tomorrow

IT Ministry's Fact Check Unit (FCU) On Hold, SC Underlines The 'Freedom Of Speech'

IT Ministry's Fact Check Unit (FCU) On Hold, SC Underlines The 'Freedom Of Speech'

'Samyukta Kisan Morcha' Announces 'Bharat Band' On February 16 To Ensure Better MSP And Legal...

'Samyukta Kisan Morcha' Announces 'Bharat Band' On February 16 To Ensure Better MSP And Legal...

India vs Pakistan, ICC World Cup 2023: Pakistan Journalists Receive Visas To Cover Marquee Clash

India vs Pakistan, ICC World Cup 2023: Pakistan Journalists Receive Visas To Cover Marquee Clash