|
MUMBAI - Dead men tell no tales, but survivors do.
The sole terrorist captured alive in the Mumbai terror attacks, Ajmal Mohammad Amin Kasab, has revealed that all the ten attackers carried Arabic code names concealing their genuine identity. The code names were commensurate with the task assigned to each of them.
The masterminds of the mission ~ who led the attackers ~ were called Zaim and Nasi al-Din, meaning "General" and "Protector of Islam", respectively. These two were not only the brains behind the mission but also the vanguard, as they guided the rest of the team and led the charge into the Taj Mahal hotel.
The man who led the attack on the Trident-Oberoi was named al-Haman ~ Arabic for happy and enthusiastic, Crime Branch sources confirmed. Another was called al-Abbas, or fearless ~ a reflection of his role in the attacks.
Held at an undisclosed place and under constant interrogation, Kasab has disclosed that the team was trained in the hilly areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. Their commander was Abdul Baith. One of them knew the Qu'ran by heart - a hafiz - and gave them sermons on the way to Mumbai. Kasab has also recounted how ten of his team dispersed in teams of two to various targets as soon as they landed at the Gateway of India on Wednesday evening.
The nine slain terrorists are being subjected to incisive autopsy to determine the intake of drugs or stimulants. It is confirmed that they took steroids and other stimulants like cocaine and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) to sustain attacking power. They were carrying dry fruits and other energy boosting food packets.
Kasab is believed to have recounted how rigorous their training was. He said he was "forcibly" sent to a Lashkar-e-Tayyaba camp by his father. Their masters had warned them not to get nabbed.
"Die or return alive with hostages and seek safe passage out by the same sea-route," they were told.
Meanwhile, a prominent Muslim organisation, the Muslim Council Trust, has said it would not allow the slain terrorists to be buried in any of their graveyards in Mumbai since "they were not followers of Islam".
Its president, Mr Ibrahim Tai, has written to the trustees of "Bara Kabrastan" at Marine Lines asking them not to allow their burial. Police, however, have clarified that the matter of burial would take some time.
The identities of those killed would be established first. Their families or relatives would be asked to take charge of the bodies. The question of "mass burial" would arise only if police were unable to hand over the bodies to relatives.
| 
