26/11: Al Qaeda's brain and Lashkar's execution

Cama Hospital and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus were never part of the original 26/11 terror attack plan drawn out by the Al Qaeda. It was only when the ISI decided to hand over the plan to the anti-India Lashkar-e-Tayiba that the Mumbai attacks became bloodier. Vicky Nanjappa reports

Was the 26/11 terror attack plot hijacked from the Al Qaeda and handed over to the Lashkar-e-Tayiba? Well that's the theory doing the rounds in Pakistan.

Reports from Pakistan a year after the attack suggested that it was Ilyas Kashmiri, the commander of the 313 brigade of the Al Qaeda, who first planned the attack. Later the Inter Services Intelligence, Pkaistan's spy agency, hijacked the plan and handed over the operation to the Lashkar.

While the Indian agencies did not read too much into it and focused more on establishing a Lashkar-ISI link to the attack, today the theory of the attack being hijacked has been deciphered to a large extent.

Officials part of the Intelligence and Research and Analysis Wing point out that be it Ilyas Kashmiri or LeT founder and Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, they are all strategic assets of the ISI. It is impossible that either a Saeed or a Kashmiri could act on their own. None of these outfits -- especially when carrying out an attack on either India, or United States of America or Israel -- would act on their own.

The ISI is basically the controlling agency and when they feel the need for an attack they ask any one outfit to chalk out a plan.

In this case, the ISI was witnessing a great deal of disgruntlement among the cadres of the Lashkar who wanted to fight alongside the Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The ISI did not wish to permit this at any cost. Hence they told their best fighter, Kashmiri to draw out a plan.

Once the plan was drawn out, the same went back to the controller and the entire operation was explained. However, when Kashmiri drew out the plan, he had planned on targeting only the Taj and Trident hotels and sought assistance on logistics regarding places where there were Israelis.

Cama Hospital or the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus were never part of the original plan drawn out by the Al Qaeda.

However, once the plan was handed over to the controller, a core team was drawn out and the ISI decided that the attack would be carried out by the Lashkar, since its only interest was India and it would