The Mumbai 26/11 terror attack was a dastardly act of cowardice unleashed on the innocent people of Mumbai by Pakistan-ISI backed and trained terrorists.
Both the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), 10-days prior to the terror attack had credible intelligence about a possible terror attack in Mumbai by Pakistani-based terrorists.
GoaChronicle.com through our discussions with sources in IB and RAW has zeroed down on four vital intel that the intelligence agencies had alerted the Indian government led by UPA about a possible terror attack in Mumbai.
On November 18, 2008, RAW had intercepted a satellite phone conversation that a hotel at the Gateway of India would be targeted by a group of terrorists.
On November 19, 2008, IB receives intelligence that a boat (Al Husaini) with terrorists had set sail to attack Mumbai. The IB had even received input about the probable mobile numbers that could be used by the terrorists.
On November 21, 2008, the naval authorities, spotted the boat in Pakistani waters, the information was escalated to the Internal Security Department of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
The former bureaucrat of the Internal Security Department of MHA, RVS Mani in an interview with GoaChronicle.com stated that on November 23, 2008, his department did have such escalated information from the naval coastguard.
However, the Al Husaini boat was not intercepted. The naval authorities were redeployed on November 24, 2008, and no action was taken on the intelligence. Subsequently, terrorists then boarded and took over the M.V. Kuber which was a fishing trawler. From the M.V. Kuber closer to Mumbai, they got into a dinghy on November 26, 2008.
The inflatable dinghy used by the terrorists after abandoning M.V. Kuber had an outboard engine manufactured by Yamaha Motor Corporation, Japan. The investigation revealed that the engine was shipped to a firm called Business & Engineering Trends in Pakistan with the address: 24, Habibulla Road, Off Davis Road, Lahore, Pakistan.
On November 24, 2008, RAW intercepts another conversation. In this conversation on a possible terror attack, the hotels’ Taj and Trident were mentioned. The terrorists were focused on these two hotels, one near Gateway of India and the other at Nariman Point.
Shockingly, no senior member of the Internal Security Department of the MHA was there to receive the input of RAW. Former bureaucrat RVS Mani was sent to Lucknow to attend a case and most of the ISD of MHA left to be present in Pakistan on November 25, 2008. The delegates arrived on November 25, 2008, and were to leave November 26, 2008, but instead, they left on November 27, 2008. Their stay was extended because their planned meeting schedule was altered and their meeting with the Pakistan Minister of Interior Rehman Malik was postponed to November 26, 2008, instead of November 25, 2008. The postponement of the meeting was agreed to by the majority of the Indian delegates.
Former bureaucrat, RVS Mani was in the control room of the Ministry of Home Affairs dealing with the crisis of the terror attack in Mumbai. According to RVS Mani, the Prime Minister Office had credible intelligence. Yet no action was taken.
RVS Mani also revealed that a well-planned strategy of Pakistan ISI had kept Indian delegates in Pakistan from the MHA – Internal Security Division busy in frivolities. The delegates arrived on November 25, 2008, and were to leave November 26, 2008, but instead, they left on November 27, 2008. Their stay was extended because their planned meeting schedule was altered and their meeting with the Pakistan Minister of Interior Rehman Malik was postponed to November 26, 2008, instead of November 25, 2008. The postponement of the meeting was agreed to by the majority of the Indian delegates.
According to a report by IB, based on Ajmal Kasab’s interrogation and confession revealed that the 10 terrorists were handpicked from a larger group and trained at various locations inside Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. The training was also held at Muridke, Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, Azizabad and Paanch Teni.
Kasab also confessed that they got local help. The charge-sheet filed had no mention of David Headley, who was helped in his recce by Rahul Bhatt, son of Bollywood filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, now in prison in the US and who has confessed to laying the foundation for 26/11 by taking detailed videos of the Taj and Trident/Oberoi hotels where he checked in as a guest, as well as other targets like Chabad House.
Having credible intelligence Congress-led government at the Centre and state failed to prevent one of the most horrific terror attack in India. The acts of omission raise serious questions on the actions of the Congress-led government.
