FBI winds up Mumbai terror probe; finds Pak role

Less than a month after the unprecedented terror strikes in Mumbai, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has completed its probe in India and found evidence of a Pakistan security establishment being involved in the carnage.

An FBI team is likely to go there to prepare a chargesheet against the guilty.

As the FBI winds up the probe that commenced on December one, top US Intelligence official John Michael McConnell, who heads the Director of National Intelligence, air dashed to New Delhi and held series of meetings with the FBI team probing the case.

The FBI is understood to have found evidence about the role of a Pakistani security establishment other than the ISI being involved in the November 26 terror strikes in Mumbai that left over 180 people dead including six American nationals, official sources said.

While the name of the Pakistan establishment involved in the attack was not clear immediately, the sources did not rule out the possibility of active and direct involvement of its Army.

The sources said McConnell has passed on the findings of FBI team to the officials in the government and the US probe agency would now be giving final touches to chargesheet in which it would be naming the accused persons.

The FBI had registered a case in the Mumbai terror strikes as according to the US laws, the agency had to file a chargesheet in case of a death or torture of any American national outside the country.

The top US official also held series of meetings with Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and senior officials including National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and discussed issues relating to evidence gathered so far in the probe in the 26/11 terror strikes, the sources said.

Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is considered to be the most powerful intelligence official of the US government under direct command and control of the US President and reports to him only.  

The role of the DNI is to effectively integrate foreign, military and domestic intelligence in defence of the homeland and of the US' interests abroad from its 16 spy agencies. It came into existence after the audacious 9/11 attacks in the US.

The FBI officials, before completing the probe, had questioned Kasab, the lone Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant involved in November 26 terror strikes, for over nine hours recently to ascertain about his role and handlers in Pakistan.

During the questioning session, the FBI sleuths asked the arrested Lashkar terrorist minor details about his native places, including the lanes and by-lanes of the area. Kasab hails from Ukkad area of Faridkot district in Pakistan.

The FBI had also taken the DNA samples of the nine Lashkar terrorists killed in Mumbai to ascertain whether it matched with anyone in their data bank or has any relations with persons killed during operations of Allied Forces in Afghanistan.