Is Abu Jundal trying to mislead investigators?

Indian agencies interrogating Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal say they would need at least three months of thorough probing before they could establish a fool proof link of the role played by the Pakistani establishment in the 26/11 attack. 

While Jundal has confirmed that the entire attack was planned by the LeT, he is still sketchy when asked about the role played by Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence in the attack.

We are trying to understand the entire attack and have started questioning him right from the planning stages. He has given us details on the control room and also the manner in which the ten terrorists were trained, an investigator told rediff.com on condition of anonymity.

There was an assault team of 12 men, who were initially picked for the operation. However, two of them were unable to continue training as they found the training programme to be extremely hard, Jundal told interrogators.

The Lashkar was very sceptical of taking even a single Indian into confidence for this attack, as it did not want the plans to be revealed at any cost.

'I was the only one who was considered for this attack, as I knew the terrain very well and I needed to add the Indian touch to the attack so that Pakistan would not be blamed,' Jundal said, adding, 'I was privy to the planning of the attack since 2008. Many of us did not know the magnitude of the attack, but we were constantly told that a major impact would have to be created on Indian soil.'

However, the interrogators are not buying every word of Jundal. For instance, there are no takers for Jundal's statement that Abu Hamza who was in the 26/11 control room in Karachi died last year.

Indian agencies feel that the statement could be a ploy to protect Hamza, who is a very crucial operative in the Lashkar circles.

Hamza is also wanted in attack on the Indian Instiute of Science in Bengaluru.

Investigators say that Jundal draws a blank when asked about the ISI.

Investigators say that the next round of investigation would focus on the ISI and the role of other international players.

'Jundal is a high ranking terrorist and the probe cannot be run of the mill,' sources said, adding, 'This time around we will send Pakistan ample proof so that it could act on the state players who attacked us.'