Mumbai Terrorist Attack-News stories and timeline

[arun]

X Post :

December 8, 2008

Pakistan’s Spies Aided Group Tied to Mumbai Siege

New York Times

[venkat_r]

Looks like Guns of Navarone was enacted on India!

Spinster garu, Please lets not use any of the sentences/terms that gives eulogy or cheer to these terror acts or terrorists.

[Patni]

Footage of Hijacked police vehicle. Posting for detail at 00:10 on clip showing the vehicle come out of small side street next to St. Xaviers college and going away from camera towards CST and then taking a U turn and heading towards Metro junction. Shows that the ambush happened not on the main Mahanagarpalika marg but mostly near rangabhavan on Badaruddin Tayabji Marg. If anyone know of exact timing of the footage of that shootout at Metro would help in figuring out exactly how long the terrorists were hiding on cama's terrace.

[Amber G.]

X post:
For guru logs here ... Courtesy google ...

The alleged sites where Lakhwi was allegedly arrested
Shawai nullah
and
JUD office

[NRao]

X Post :

December 8, 2008

Pakistan’s Spies Aided Group Tied to Mumbai Siege

New York Times

Some in the US are either throttling back, or, are pressuring India to part with more info than India would like:

American officials say there is no hard evidence to link the spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, to the Mumbai attacks. But the ISI has shared intelligence with Lashkar and provided protection for it, the officials said, and investigators are focusing on one Lashkar leader they believe is a main liaison with the spy service and a mastermind of the attacks

An American counterterrorism official said: “It’s one thing to say the ISI is tied to Lashkar and quite another to say the ISI was behind the Mumbai attacks. The evidence at this point doesn’t get you there.”

[ramana]

There was an article in the TSP thread that said that US had provided GPS devices to tribals who were supposed to go find OBL. Were the GPS devices used by the terrorists from that inventory?

We still dont have all the story.

[Philip]

'Uncle' named as Mumbai terror conspirator
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 57699.html

By Andrew Buncombe in Delhi
Monday, 8 December 2008

Hours after Indian police began interrogating the sole surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks, a key conspirator was named as Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.

The man who uses several identities but is nicknamed Chachu, or Uncle, is said to be a founder and operations chief of Laskar-e-Toiba (LeT), the group accused of plotting the Mumbai attacks.

He and another senior LeT member, Yusuf Muzammil, are said to have been central to the plotting, maintaining contact with the 10 militants by satellite phone during the attacks.

Officials said some of the conversations may have kept the gunmen aware of the movements of police and commandos. They may also have decided which hostages were to be killed.

Reports suggest Lakhvi, usually based in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, moved to Karachi in August, the port city from where the militants set off, so he could direct operations. The survivor, named as Ajmal Amir Kasab, apparently told police Lakhvi had helped "indoctrinate all the attackers".

American officials said Lakhvi, 48, born in the Okara district of Pakistan, has directed military actions in Chechnya, Bosnia, Iraq and South-east Asia. They say that in 2006, he sent out word to LeT's members to begin training operatives for suicide bombings. In a previous instruction, he told operatives to mount attacks in well-populated areas. Indian officials say Lakhvi also oversaw Azam Cheema, accused of being a ringleader in the bombing of the Mumbai rail network in 2006 that killed more than 200 and left 700 injured.

[disha]

Posting in full. My heart goes out for Ombale.

Salute to the Brave constables of DB Marg Police Station

Salute the brave constables of D B Marg police station

December 08, 2008

Let me begin this column on a personal note. I spent the last years of college in Mumbai (then Bombay). I cut my teeth as a journalist in Mumbai. It was to Mumbai that I brought my wife after my marriage. In all those years I never thought of the Taj Mahal Hotel [Images] as an 'icon,' which is how seemingly all my journalistic brethren refer to it today. If anything it was VT -- now Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus [Images] -- that was a touchstone of my life, not the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Given the frequent references to how 'all of us' visit 'the Taj' -- no other identification required! -- young reporters today enjoy a different lifestyle. Back then I met very few CEOs in the elegant suites at the Taj but did spend time with SHOs in police stations on the crime beat. It is to such men, the policemen in those grimy rooms, that I respectfully dedicate this column.

A few days ago as you read this there was a simple ceremony at the not-so-iconic D B Marg police station, when garlands were placed around the photograph of Assistant Police Inspector Tukaram Gopal Ombale. Were there any reporters present to honour Ombale's tale of heartbreaking courage?

On the night of 26-27 November, Ombale and several other policemen were on alert in the Girgaum Chowpatty [Images] area. They had been told that two terrorists were on the run in a Skoda. The twenty policemen out there had a grand total of two self-loading rifles and two bullet-proof vests. The vests were given to the men with the rifles, who were placed at vantage points around metal barricades. The rest of the policemen carried only lathis (batons)); some were plainclothesmen, others in uniform.

Those (virtually unarmed) policemen tried to stop the Skoda. The driver fired at them. The police shot back from the pre-determined vantage point and got him. The other man slid out, pretending to surrender, but carrying an AK-47.

Ombale rushed to secure him when the terrorist started pumping away with the AK-47. Call it guts or instinct but Tukaram Gopal Ombale refused to let go of his assailant. I am told that something like 30 bullets were recovered from his body.

His colleagues took advantage of Ombale's last act as they rushed at the terrorist with their lathis. The plainclothesmen were later identified as a 'mob' in grainy footage shot by someone on a mobile phone!

Tukaram Gopal Ombale died for his bravery. Assistant Police Inspector Sanjay Govilkar received bullet injuries. But those ordinary policemen -- some in their forties, laughably ill-equipped -- succeeded in doing what nobody else could, they captured a terrorist on a suicide mission alive. They also recovered artillery dwarfing their modest weapons -- AK-47s, several magazines, 9mm pistols, and grenades.

Today security agencies from across the planet are sending men to Mumbai, from the FBI, the CIA, Britain's MI-6, Israel's Mossad and Shin Bet, and even from Russia [Images]. Between them, they have mixed opinions of the Indian security forces' tactics -- especially the Israelis -- but to a man they salute those constables from D B Road police station.

There is nothing they prize more than information, and that is what they are extracting from the captured terrorist -- how he was recruited, how, and where, and by whom he was trained, and so forth.

Every major nation, even the Chinese, have problems with Muslim fundamentalists, yet none could capture a suicide attacker trained from the Al Qaeda [Images] manual. That honour goes only to the Mumbai police.

These were ordinary constables, not trained men from the Anti-Terrorist Squad, the Black Cats, or the Marine Commandos. I would love to say that their naked courage has been honoured by a renewed determination to fight terrorism but it would be untrue.

With one accord everyone is rushing to place all the blame at Pakistan's doors. I do believe the ten terrorists who carried out the actual attacks were indeed all from Pakistan, but it stretches credulity to breaking point to believe that there was no local support.

Investigators say there is no way that just ten men carried all that equipment, including timers and explosives, into the Taj Mahal hotel, so who smuggled it all in? Can men setting foot in the city for the first time really negotiate Mumbai's network of streets without guides to find Nariman House?

What of the politicians? What was the situation in Mumbai in the week after a weary NSG leader confirmed that the last terrorist had been killed in the Taj Mahal hotel?

No chief minister. No home minister. No replacement for the chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad. A director general of police fighting for his office.

Maharashtra Director General of Police A N Roy was appointed amid controversy several months ago; the appointment was quashed by the Central Administrative Tribunal on October 8, 2008, and he is now battling it out in the high court.

Sharad Pawar [Images] named Chhagan Bhujbal as a replacement for former Maharashtra home minister R R Patil, but he could not take office until the Congress got its act together because you cannot have ministers without a chief minister.

The Congress loves to accuse others of playing 'politics as usual.' What do you think kept the party from selecting a new chief minister if not 'politics as usual' -- with more to come from Narayan Rane [Images]?

So Sonia Gandhi [Images] packed off the external affairs minister and the defence minister to Mumbai -- not to inspect the security situation, but to find a new chief minister. These are precisely the two ministers who must be in Delhi [Images] during an international crisis. Couldn't his mother have sent Rahul Gandhi [Images] in their place?

Few expect better of our politicians. But what of the media? It spent so much time around its beloved 'icon' that it almost forgot about VT -- or CST, call it what you will. There are roughly 13 million citizens of Mumbai. Do you think even a million of them have set foot in the 'icon?' But how many of those millions are not familiar with the railway station?

VT became a footnote to those reporters around the 'icon.' So, I fear, will be the names of Tukaram Gopal Ombale, and the other ordinary policemen with him, the likes of Hemant Bowdankar, Mangesh Yende, and Bhaskar Kadam. Can this ungrateful nation offer the living policemen and the families of the dead nothing but faded garlands around a photograph in a police station that today's journalists rarely bother to visit?

T V R Shenoy

[Patni]

Cracking GPS Security code

The sources said the FBI team was also facing some problem in breaking into the encrypted code of the Gramin GPS phones but since the company was headquartered in the US, they would be able to break it using the master key code of the instrument available with the company.

As far as i know the Garmin does not market a satellite phone under its brand name! So maybe DDM confusing a standard GPS with a phone! I have seen a tv coverage showing the Garmin GPS device which was found on kuber. Does anyone has a link to that footage i want to know exact model number which i think will be readable on that picture. We can compare if that model is commercially available in karachi.

[Patni]

Footage showing the recovered sat phone from terrorists after encounter at chowpatty.

Also found satphone used

[Patni]

Interview of Constable Arun jadhav.

Interview of driver of Scoda car

Trying to get to more accurate times after metro firing. The switch to scoda happened near midnight. The encounter at chowpatty at 12:10 or so.

[ramana]

Cracking GPS Security code

The sources said the FBI team was also facing some problem in breaking into the encrypted code of the Gramin GPS phones but since the company was headquartered in the US, they would be able to break it using the master key code of the instrument available with the company.

As far as i know the Garmin does not market a satellite phone under its brand name! So maybe DDM confusing a standard GPS with a phone! I have seen a tv coverage showing the Garmin GPS device which was found on kuber. Does anyone has a link to that footage i want to know exact model number which i think will be readable on that picture. We can compare if that model is commercially available in karachi.

I thought the GPS was GARMIN unit found on the boat with waypoints for their journey from KArachi to Mumbai.

The sat phone is a Thuraya sat phone which has its own GPS chip in it to allow location. The Thuraya company hq is in Dubai or thereabouts and they were going to co-operate in tracing where the calls were made. The sat phone is locked and needs to be decrypted. That is the crux of the matter.

[Lalmohan]

several reports in the media over the past years have already spoken about RAW's ability to intercept and monitor Thuraya phones

not sure what about the garmin handset would be encrypted, the satnav signal is, but the handset has to decode it in order to calculate the position of the satellite sending it...

if Thuraya has a positional element as to where the phone was when it made call x, that is unlikely to be encrypted per se, must be just a case of extracting it from the data set

[ramana]

Finally pictures of the pigs.

Piglets..

LM, No one is saying the GPS unit is encrypted. The data extraction from the sat phone is being pursued. They want to find out where the phone calls were made to complete the picture.

[ramana]

X-posted...

I had talked to a marine commando on the first day of the attack and he told me that these guys definitely had special forces training. Seems this is the confirmation

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumb ... 804856.cms

and

Letter to editor...

Looking ahead

As a security consultant who has worked overseas for 25 years, I am stunned at the callous, unprofessional and totally disorganised security response to a situation such as the Mumbai terror attack. I can understand politicians trying to divert public attention by blaming Pakistan, which has never been a friend. It is well known that the Pakistan army will do everything possible to destabilise us. But then, we did not establish institutions at great costs to point a finger at others. The initial response from the Mumbai police showed they had no idea what the situation was and how to handle it. Proposals such as having NSG contingents in every city are not the solution. The command and control should always be with the local police. They should have the means to respond adequately and promptly and be able to demand help from all sources.

Samuel Martyn James,
Chennai

One of my first lesson learned was to establish the chain of command to prevent communications disasters. At state level its the Home Minstry officials and national level the HM and PMO as the situation warrants. Indian govt has to understand it works for Indian people that elects it.

[Lalmohan]

actually now that we can step back and look at the different bits of news - i don't think we've done all that badly. the mumbai police overall response was ok, marcos came in reasonably quickly, NSG thereafter - and the rest of the op was well handled. mumbai police didn't handle the media very well, nor did they manage the Taj perimeter well - Oberoi seems to have been better handled.

more and more police/spec forces specialists commenting have said that no city would have been prepared for this type of attack. for example, London police do not carry firearms - a similar hit on Euston station would have left hundreds dead including the cops, until the met police QRT got there, and then the SAS/SBS a little later.

[shyamd]

for example, London police do not carry firearms - a similar hit on Euston station would have left hundreds dead including the cops, until the met police QRT got there, and then the SAS/SBS a little later.

They do actually. Not all of them, but in important stations like Euston/Paddington there are armed police, carrying MP-5's(I think), was there last week.

Armed police usually do patrol streets generally anyway. They usually drive the Lexus jeeps.

[ramana]

X-posted..

Please post here and not any which where thread....

BRF must have missed this item:

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1210367

Commandos of the National Security Guard (NSG) were caught by surprise on Friday afternoon when they were fired at by an MP5 submachine gun. Till then, they were being fired at only by AK47s.

The MP5 is far superior to the AK47 and is only used by the security forces of various countries. This led the NSG to believe that the terrorists were more heavily armed than they had thought. But the mystery was solved when they realised that the terrorists had seized Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s weapon after killing him. The NSG feel that the acquisition of this weapon had extended their resistance by a few hours. This is also an indication, said a senior officer, that the terrorists were trained in the use of this sophisticated weapon as well.

....

SSG at work?

The terrorists were trained in TSP commando training camps for irregulars. So multiple weapons handling training must have been given. One thing is how can one Mp-5 lead to extended resistance of few hours? Was there so much ammo or is it due to caution? What was the threat level between MP-5 and AK-47 ballistics?

[ramana]

TOI headline

kasab's remand ends today

What a story!

Kasab's remand ends today
11 Dec 2008, 0532 hrs IST, Kartikeya, TNN

MUMBAI: Arrested Pakistani terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Kasab completes two weeks
in the custody of Mumbai police on Thursday. However, though he
has been booked under ordinary laws such as the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Arms Act and the Explosives Act-all of which allow the police a maximum of only 14 days to interrogate a suspect-Kasab's interrogation is unlikely to end any time soon. This is so because the crime branch plans to seek extension of Kasab's custody in each of the cases he has been booked under.

Kasab will be produced before a magistrate on Thursday when his custody in the CST firing case registered with the Azad Nagar police station ends. The police is likely to request the magistrate to hand him over to the crime branch again in connection with any one of the 11 other cases. Using this tactic, police can technically extend Kasab's custody for at least 154 days.

Kasab is a rare instance of a terrorist being arrested alive when on a suicidal mission. All his nine other accomplices had to be gunned down by security forces. Therefore Kasab, who has already provided some information on his mentors, their methods of training and indoctrination and the organisational structure of his handlers in Pakistan, could yield more, believe investigators. But police would need further time not just to interrogate him but also conduct a number of scientific tests such as brain mapping and narco-analysis.

It is only under special laws such as the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) that police get 30 days to interrogate an accused and six months to file a chargesheet. However, MCOCA has not yet been applied in this case.

"Clearly, the arrested terrorist must be holding a lot of information which cannot be gleaned from him in just two weeks. Moreover, not just Mumbai police but a number of other security agencies want to question him according to their own expertise and information,'' said an intelligence officer, explaining why questioning a terrorist required longer time than an ordinary criminal. "A terrorist is trained to hide information for longer so you need to question him really intensively, which is time-consuming.''

In the two weeks that the crime branch has held Kasab, it shared time questioning him with agencies such as the Intelligence Bureau and Research and Analysis Wing as well as sleuths from the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation and from Israel.

So the gentle Mumbai Police didnt even charge the terroist under MCOCA!!!! I dont know what to say? How many more did that guy have to have killed to be charged under MCOCA? I had earlier figured that this Kasab was reponsible for one third(>60) of all the killings(~171) the terrorists did. What is wrong with law enforcement in Mumbia and in India?




And the reporter with his innuendoes what more should the terrorist do to enure he gets no sympathy from media? I bet NDTV/IBN etc will be in Barkhaing again at his court appearance.

[vera_k]

Who is representing Kasav? Would be a huge embarassment if he managed to secure bail.

[ramana]

Maybe Ram jethmalani or that Memon guy.

I only hope no one pulls Jack Ruby on the guy and shoots him.

[ramana]

Mumbai Mirror has a lot of stories

Body Count


CST Parcel Room Bomb

Bhayya who stayed put


Breaking news;

Police looking for waiter who left bomb at Taj

Folks there is a lot of data to be mined. Please collect the stories. Its easy to whine in the other threads.

[ramana]

How is the timeline coming? Can you see the holes in the leaked Kasab confession?

[Lalmohan]

X-posted..

What was the threat level between MP-5 and AK-47 ballistics?

if you recall Akshardham, the terrorists used AK47's too - which has a much larger effective standoff range than the MP5, which caused casualties amongst the NSG guys as they were closing the gap to the mandir from the perimeter

in close quarters, the mp5 is much more wieldable than the ak47 and more likely to be aimed effectively

[rahul_r]

Video interview of one of NSG commandos injured at the Taj. ~9mins long. Apologies if already posted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmbWa89b ... re=related

[ramana]

A tale of Two Unarmed Heros

A tale of two unarmed heroes

K. Balchand

— Photo: Vivek Bendre

Vishnu Dattaram Zinde

NEW DELHI: Armed with nothing but presence of mind and courage, two persons tackled terrorists at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus on November 26.

The railway announcer at the station, Vishnu Dattaram Zinde, and head constable of the Railway Protection Force Jillu Yadav, who were honoured by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, were instrumental in preventing further casualties in the attack.

As usual, Mr. Zinde had finished his dinner and returned to his seat to continue with his announcements about train arrivals and departures. He then heard an explosion and what he saw from his room shocked him. A stream of injured passengers draped in blood and a host of others rescuing the injured spun Mr. Zinde into action.

Realising that it was a grenade blast, Mr. Zinde switched off the computer announcement system and assumed the mantle himself, which they do in emergency situations. What he did from then on earned him the gratitude of the nation.

Perched at an advantageous position, Mr. Zinde comprehended the situation and repeatedly directed personnel of the RPF and the GRP (Government Railway Police) to rush towards the mainline sensing trouble from that end.

With reports of gunshots, an alert Mr. Zinde turned his attention to those passengers disembarking from the suburban trains. He directed them to either stay put in the trains or exit through the side gate and not head to the main gate. That he did without telling them of the presence of the terrorists so as not to create any panic. “At times, I had to single out frightened passengers heading for the main gate by calling them out by the colour of their shirts and warning them.”

He did attract the two terrorists’ attention who were just about 20 paces away standing right in front of him. They fired at his cabin, but without apparently being sure of anyone’s presence.

Mr. Zinde’s two other colleagues, G.S. Tiwari and Sekhar Peshwi, switched off the lights and pasted papers on the glass panes. They had ducked to evade being sighted but carried on with their work.

Mr. Yadav entered the scene thanks to Mr. Zinde’s directions. On that day he had not been issued a weapon. That did not deter his zealousness and commitment.

He sighted the two terrorists and asked a GRP constable armed with a .303 rifle to fire at them. He was standing there and declined to use his weapon. “What are you looking at? You won’t get an opportunity like this to excel in your duty. Stand up and deliver,” exhorted Mr. Yadav without much success.

Mr. Yadav rushed to his side, grabbed the rifle and fired at the terrorists. A volley of shots breezed past him. He grabbed the GRP man and pulled him behind a wall for cover.

That one shot, however, created panic in the terrorists and they rushed out of the station. It prevented the killing of more people.

[ramana]

“He just fell on us as if to protect us from bullets”

“He just fell on us as if to protect us from bullets”

Meena Menon

For a change, Sitaram Sakhre decided to take the train to his native village … and that cost him his life



Sitaram Sakhre, who was killed at CST, and his wife Gangu, who survived the firing.

MUMBAI: It was the first time that 42-year-old Sitaram Sakhre decided to take the train to visit his native village in Solapur district. “That was the ticket of his lifetime,” says his inconsolable wife, Gangu.

Sitaram, a headload carrier in Navi Mumbai and 10 others were headed for Solapur by the Siddheshwari Express on the night of November 26.

“It was my brother’s son’s wedding on November 30 and we were going for five days. We had even invited my neighbour’s young daughter for the marriage,” says Gangu. They were sitting on platform no. 14 at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and Sitaram had just returned with his elder son, Ganesh, from the ticket counter.

“We were sitting on the floor and my husband was standing behind us when we heard what sounded like fire crackers. He turned back to see what was happening when something hit him and he fell. There was no sound. He just fell on us, his arms spread out wide as if to protect us from the bullets that were flying in all directions,” says Gangu. Ganesh tried to run and the bullets went through his arm. He still goes to a hospital to get the dressing changed every day.

There is a small colour portrait of Sitaram in the single room tenement at Govandi, an eastern suburb of Mumbai. Sitaram’s daughter, Surwanta, says her three-year-old son was among those present that night. “My father protected us from those bullets. We did not know he was dead. We just thought he was lying flat like the rest of us. In fact lying on the ground, I called my husband from my mobile to tell him we were all okay,” she says.

It was a little past 10 when the terrorists started firing. “The sound was like that of chana [roasted gram] spilling on the ground. The bullets fell like chana everywhere making a pat-pat-pat-pat sound,” Gangu recalls. There were nine adults and three children in the group. The family waited till the sounds of firing died down before making a beeline for the back exit. They realised Sitaram was hurt when they saw the blood seeping from his body. They managed to get a handcart to take him to St. George hospital, which is practically next door to CST. Sitaram died before he reached the hospital.

Gangu says the family had never gone to Solapur by train. “In my 26 years of marriage, we always went by bus, it was so much more convenient. We did not even know where the platform was. This time my husband was adamant that we should take the train as there were children and my neighbour’s daughter. He did not want them to be inconvenienced by a bus journey. It was all fate,” she reasons.

Gangu has only one wish. The man who shot her husband must be punished in the same manner in public. “It was a horrible scene on the platform. Four people from a family died and I saw one woman fall to bullets. There was blood all over the place.”

“Sitaram never drank, never shouted at me. He did his work and looked after his two sons and a daughter. He even looked after his brother’s family back in the village,” she adds. “Luckily the rest of us survived. Imagine if my neighbour’s daughter was killed? What would have happened,” weeps Gangu.

Her son, Ganesh, studies in the 11th standard and she hopes the Railways will give him a job as promised. Gangu and her husband were both illiterate. Her younger son, Somnath, is mentally challenged and a slow learner.

Gangu has asked her daughter to come back from her marital home in Navi Mumbai and stay close by. “I have the support of family and friends,” she says. “There is nothing else left. When I get up in the morning, I think of how I used to cook for my husband, pack his lunch at 4 a.m. Everything in the house and everything I do reminds me of him. It’s all so difficult,” she adds.

Such an innocent being. The salt of our earth.

May he rest in peace.

[Raj Malhotra]

The GoI should declare large awards for identifying rest of the 9 pigs and make Pakistan suffer the embarrassement of their villagers proudly disclosing those damning details.

[ramana]

From the Telegraph, 15 Dec 2008

Rs 127 crore to equip cops
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai, Dec. 14: Maharashtra police will be modernised at a cost of Rs 127 crore, chief minister Ashok Chavan said today, ahead of the Assembly’s winter session where the government is likely to come under fire for the Mumbai terror attacks.

Chavan, speaking in Nagpur where the winter session starts tomorrow, said details of the proposals would be disclosed in the Assembly.

The proposals, though, are unlikely to be different from what Chavan’s predecessor, Vilasrao Deshmukh, had announced days before he was forced to quit over the attacks.

He had promised a battalion of 1,000 commandos, the Maharashtra Security Guards, on the lines of the National Security Guard; a state security council, like the national security council; and a state industrial security force, like the CISF.

Other proposals included an intelligence training institute in Pune, 12 coastal police stations in addition to the 24 planned earlier, and purchase of 24 speedboats. The police top brass has mooted plans to procure over 500 AK-47s, helicopters for air surveillance, and advanced weapons.

The police upgrade was cleared at a cabinet meeting earlier today. Sources said the chief minister and his colleagues tried to find ways to blunt expected criticism from the Opposition in the Assembly.

Shiv Sena’s Ramdas Kadam, the leader of the Opposition, alleged today that Mumbai police commissioner Hassan Gafoor slept in his car while his ill-equipped force battled gunmen inside the Oberoi on November 26.

Gafoor denied the allegation, and senior police officers were fuming at what they saw as an attempt to target a Muslim officer. “Such nasty allegations are being made by the Sena because Gafoor is a Muslim. Which officer can sleep when such a tragedy is taking place?” asked an officer who was part of the operations at the Oberoi and Taj hotels.

Gafoor, he said, was stopped from entering the Oberoi by senior colleagues after ATS chief Hemant Karkare was shot dead.

So there was acommand failure after the ATS chief was killed. And also if the same comment were made by non Sena person would it be acceptable? The allegation was he wasnt available for hisforce on Nov 26th. There was Pravin Swami article that said a top policeman was lockedup in his own jeep with his aids and didnt pickup his cell phone. Could it be Mr Gafoor who was afraid of being enountered? I think more will come out eventually.

[Anurag]

Piglets on the phone with TV station from Nariman. Clearly sounds like a Pakistani (Pakjab)accent...

He seems to be representing the entire muslim brotherhood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-DsNA0H ... re=related

[ramana]

Impact of Mumbai attacks on Afghanistan

From Brookings Institute.

See the West hasa distributed info processing outlook and system while Indians have the disaster tourism penchant like RG Varma. Any accident happnes the crowds gather and do nothing but add to the situation.

[enqyoob]

As usual, this article completely misses the point in Antulay's questions.
Antulay clarified that he wasn't questioning who KILLED the ATS chief, but who SENT these top cops to that place. To get the point of that, one has to ask the "qui bono" question: who had MOTIVE to wish the ATS chief dead?
The answer would lead to the question of what happened in the hours/days preceding Karakare's death.

Ppl are completely missing this point. Antulay is taking a huge risk in asking that question, and he damn well cannot afford to make that question clearer. Elsewhere on the Malegaon thread, the ominous answers stick out very clearly.

[sudeepj]

Here is an account of a guy who was attacked by a terrorist in Cama hospital.
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/de ... t-back.htm

In his own words:~
"Suddenly, at the top of the stairs, in the corridor, I encountered a fair man. He was no older than 30, and was wearing a Pathani kurta. He had an automatic weapon slung over his shoulder," he recalls.

But he is quick to add that he remembers the man's face. "He looked like a Pathan, with a trimmed beard, and was about 5 foot 6 inches tall."

By all other available accounts and pictures, It was Qasab and Ismail Khan who were at Cama hospital and CST.
1) Both were clean shaved when carrying out the attack
2) Both were wearing TShirts and Cargo pants (no Pathani Kurta)

One got away..

Unless of-course the eye witness is unreliable. Isnt the first time an eye witness has exaggerated their role in an important event. :-/

[RayC]

As usual, this article completely misses the point in Antulay's questions.
Antulay clarified that he wasn't questioning who KILLED the ATS chief, but who SENT these top cops to that place. To get the point of that, one has to ask the "qui bono" question: who had MOTIVE to wish the ATS chief dead?
The answer would lead to the question of what happened in the hours/days preceding Karakare's death.

Ppl are completely missing this point. Antulay is taking a huge risk in asking that question, and he damn well cannot afford to make that question clearer. Elsewhere on the Malegaon thread, the ominous answers stick out very clearly.

The terrorists did go to the Hospital. Is there any record to state that none informed the police control room of the same?

If Antulay took a huge risk to state what he stated, why did he take a huge risk?

[disha]

If Antulay took a huge risk to state what he stated, why did he take a huge risk?

Falling out of the Pawar-Dawood nexus?

[sum]

There is no doubt there was a pathan clad scumbag also that night at Cama...3-4 different/independent eyewitness accounts have mentioned it in the articles reg these attacks which i have come across...
The eyewitness in THE WEEK article mentioned that this pathani suit guy shot dead the CAMA hospital chowkidar with a revolver at point-blank...

Could local IM scum have joined the party when the Pakis came hunting or was it a Paki who is AWOL since?

[bharan]

Hello
Long time reader of this forum, first time posting my message.
Does any one knows who this police officer is? I suspect he is Inspector Salaskar.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNtI_ESOgA
Regards,

[Jagan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSO5Xn7qAYs

Al-Jazeera report- shows the Police discovering the abandoned Qualis and Constable Arjun Jadhav informing about the aftermath.

[Vikram_S]

As usual, this article completely misses the point in Antulay's questions.
Antulay clarified that he wasn't questioning who KILLED the ATS chief, but who SENT these top cops to that place. To get the point of that, one has to ask the "qui bono" question: who had MOTIVE to wish the ATS chief dead?
The answer would lead to the question of what happened in the hours/days preceding Karakare's death.

Ppl are completely missing this point. Antulay is taking a huge risk in asking that question, and he damn well cannot afford to make that question clearer. Elsewhere on the Malegaon thread, the ominous answers stick out very clearly.

sir

with all due respect you are putting lipstick on a .. ie antulay

if you watch indian press, it becomes clear that antulay was just repeating all the allegation in lurid urdu media and pakistani press about karkare being killed by hindus because he was involved in malegoan investigation

now they plan to name street in malegoan after him
where are the streets in malegoan named after gajendra singh and unni?
this is the reality of indian muslim community today they pick and choose only those who meet their political agenda

whether we like it or not there is huge section of muslim community in india which is in denial over islamic terrorism
on paper, and for media they will make threats against pakistan for feel good purpose but at home, and in private conversation and in own community they will say that is a conspiracy

antulay is just speaking for that segment like the same sentiment were expressed at batla house encounter of SIMI activist
this is the swamp in which SIMI people thrive

antulay is just open about his sentiment
in contrast others are 10 times worse but they will be very lurid internally and not be as open as him
antulay also spoke openly because of simple reason, with election coming, he knows congress cannot take action against muslim leader

[Jagan]

Cama attack , Qualis Ambush as illustrated in Times of India

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Reposito ... 020600.jpg

Corresponding area on Google Maps
http://maps.google.com/maps/mm?ie=UTF8& ... 3&t=h&z=17