Author: Y P Rajesh & Sagnik Chowdhury
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 27, 2009
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/26-11-the-indian-hand/428565/0
Introduction: Maps and directions from Fahim
Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed enabled Mumbai attackers to arrive at targets
with "absolute precision" says chargesheet
One of the most intriguing aspects of the
26/11 attacks across Mumbai has been the ease with which the 10 Lashkar-e-Toiba
terrorists navigated their way around the financial capital, even though it
is believed that they were in the city for the first time.
Mumbai police investigators have sought to
attribute much of this to the GPS navigation systems the 10 men carried and
their rigorous training in Pakistan, which included memorising Google Earth
maps of Mumbai. While there has been speculation that some of the terrorists
may have visited Mumbai earlier, investigators have failed to establish this.
Instead, the chargesheet in the case squarely blames two alleged Indian operatives
of Lashkar - Fahim Arshad Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed - who were already in
the custody of the Indian police and are accused of conducting surveys of
several Mumbai landmarks and supplying their Lashkar bosses with maps and
information about several targets in the city.
In fact, the chargesheet goes on to say that
"investigations have further revealed that a map of important locations
in Mumbai was found in the possession of the deceased terrorist, Abu Ismail
(the accomplice of Ajmal Amir Kasab who was killed in the encounter on Marine
drive and is believed to be the leader of the group)". The chargesheet
adds, "Further, it has also transpired that this map was the one prepared
by arrested accused, Fahim Ansari."
"It is, indeed, very clear and apparent
from the manner in which these attacks were conducted by the terrorists that
the assault was meticulously planned and executed only after the completion
of long and arduous training with thorough and well thought-out preparation
and briefing," it says. "During the last phase of their training,
the selected 10 accused terrorists were shown the maps of the targeted sites
of Mumbai city by their co-conspirator Abu Kaahfa. On being questioned as
regards the authenticity and accuracy of the maps, Abu Kaahfa informed the
terrorist accused that the maps had been meticulously prepared by arrested
accused Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed."
"It is further revealed during the investigation
that wanted accused Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi handed over the maps of targeted
locations to the attackers before they left Karachi for Mumbai with a direction
that the said maps of the sites at Mumbai were prepared by arrested accused
Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed and with the help of the said maps they
could reach their assigned targets easily," it says and adds that the
attacks could not have been possible without the inputs given by Ansari and
Ahmed.
Originally from Mumbai, Ansari had been arrested
for the attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, on the eve of new
year 2007. He came under the radar of investigators probing the 26/11 attacks
as some of the Lashkar-e-Toiba handlers mentioned by Kasab were also named
by Ansari. Ansari's interrogation report also lists several Mumbai locations
he allegedly helped the LeT handlers zero in on while he was in Pakistan and
also surveyed them during a visit to Mumbai for a possible attack. The CST
railway station, the Taj Mahal Hotel and Colaba, which were attacked, figure
on that list.
Besides doing a recce of Mumbai landmarks,
Ansari also allegedly told his interrogators that he helped Kaahfa list several
of those locations on a Google Earth map. "I took photos and made videos.
I drew a diagram of roads and buildings," Ansari is believed to have
also said.
The chargesheet says that Ansari, a resident
of Goregaon, tried to rent an apartment in Badhwar Park - the same area where
the 10 terrorists landed in their dinghy - in December 2007 and January 2008,
but he did not succeed. He went on to rent a room on Patthe Bapurao Marg and
surveyed Mumbai's landmarks while joining a computer training institute near
the Bombay Stock Exchange to "camouflage his nefarious activities",
the chargesheet alleges.
Sabahuddin Ahmed of Bihar is believed to be
a close associate of Abu Hamza, the alleged Lashkar terrorist blamed for the
December 2005 attack on the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore. He had
allegedly received the photos and videos from Ansari when the latter visited
him in Kathmandu.
"Sabahuddin Ahmed, who was a very important
functionary of the LeT in India, thence got in touch with his LeT bosses viz:
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Abu Kaahfa and informed them as regards the receipt
of these important documents so very essential for the success of the Mumbai
Mission," the chargesheet says. "The LeT co-conspirators then made
arrangements for fetching the maps etc. from Sabahuddin Ahmed. It was these
maps and directions which enabled the arrested terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab
and the nine dead terrorists to arrive with absolute precision at the targeted
locations and further to comprehend the topography and layout of the targets."
Ahmed was arrested from Lucknow on February
11 last year, a day after Ansari in connection with the Rampur attack. Both
were brought to Mumbai in December and first named as suspects in the case
and later charged along with Kasab. Ansari's family members say they can't
believe he is capable of the crime and have vowed to fight his case.
