Did the terrorists who struck at financial capital of India a week back come to Mumbai first? The answer is no. Mumbai Police Commissioner Hassan Gafoor at a press conference said that the 'ten' men had not come to Mumbai first. He however refused to reveal any further details on the same and said that investigations will reveal all at a later stage.
The interrogation of the arrested terrorist, Ajmal Kasab has now revealed that he and his team mates had set off from Karachi with a specific plan of attacking Mumbai. However they had not come to Mumbai directly. Instead these men went to Gujarat first and only then headed to the financial capital.
Both the officials of the Mumbai Anti Terrorist Squad as well the Intelligence Bureau, who are interrogating Kasab simultaneously, are now trying to ascertain whether these men stopped for a short while or they stayed there for a day before heading for Mumbai. An IB official told rediff.com that preliminary investigations reveal that there were more than ten persons on the boat which came into Mumbai and on their way they may have dropped some members in Gujarat.
An ATS official said that these are early stages of investigation. "However, we are now sure that the boat from Karachi did not come to Mumbai first. We have alerted our counterparts in Gujarat and questioning some fishermen in this regard. We do not want to reveal too much as it could cause a sense of panic. However let me assure you that the situation is under control and the security agencies of the respective states are on high alert," the official said.
The IB says that they have received specific information that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba had plans of carrying out a series of attacks in India. The targets were Mumbai, Delhi and Gujarat and several men have been trained for this. While the boat which came in from Karachi may have dropped off a few men at Gujarat, some of the militants (14) could have moved towards New Delhi to carry out a similar attack. The security agencies in both Gujarat and New Delhi have been sounded off following this revelations, investigating agencies say.
The IB says that apart from Mumbai and New Delhi, Gujarat is on the Lashkar hit list. A series of attacks have been planned on the state. In LeT training camps in Muzafarabad and Karachi, the video on the Gujarat riots is the most popular tool used to brainwash youth and motivate them into the deadly terror path.
Meanwhile, an officer of the Anti-Terrorism Squad in Ahmedabad told rediff.com, "Our preliminary investigations have not revealed of any terrorists landing in Gujarat. We are still taking the matter seriously. Our deeper investigations are still on and we will not spare any effort to know if the terrorists from Pakistan have used Gujarat as a transit route. We are doing speedy investigations into the entire issue of the coastal security breach."