Tracing a terror journey on sea

MUMBAI: It was an adventurous sea journey that led the suspected Lashker-e-Taiba attackers to their terror destinations in Mumbai. Around 10 terrorists, unarmed, left for the financial capital on November 21 from an isolated beach in Karachi. Their names: Abu Ali, Fahad, Omar, Shohaib, Umer, Abu Akasha, Ajmal (the sole terrorist detained by the Mumbai police), Ismail, Abdul Rehman alias Bada and Abdul Rehman alias Chhota.

The 10 jihadis travelled some distance before they reached a mid-sea Pakistani vessel on November 22. They abandoned their boat for the Pakistani vessel ��� which was loaded with arms and ammunition. Once on board, they strapped themselves for action with the terror hardware.

The haversack-wielding terrorists took great care to avoid interception by marine commandos or coast guard personnel, and hijacked an Indian fishing trawler, MV Kuber, once they entered the Indian waters on November 23.

They gunned down four of the five persons aboard MV Kuber, registered in Porbunder, Gujarat, and dumped the bodies before proceeding with their sea journey through Indian waters. After travelling with the sole surviving member of the MV Kuber crew, Amarjeet, they bumped him off closer to Mumbai.

The body was later found on an abandoned vessel, some five nautical miles off the Mumbai coast. The terrorists, after abandoning the fishing trawler belonging to Porbunder fisherman Vinod Masani, took a smaller boat and landed at Badhwar Park near Cuffe Parade on Wednesday.

From there, they split into five groups and headed for their respective terror destinations. While two of them, Akmal and Ismail, went to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, two more wound their way to Leopold Cafe, Nariman House and Trident Oberoi. The remaining four headed for the Taj.

The jehadis were well versed in commando operations, as was evident in the sustained fight they put up against security forces. Their brief from their handlers in Pakistan was simple: target the Whites. The commandos were aware of the layout of each of the attack sites and used it to their advantage in the war that followed at the Taj, Nariman House and Oberoi.