Involvement in 2008 Mumbai Attacks
Kasab was seen on CCTV during his attacks at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus along with another recruit, Ismail Khan. Kasab reportedly told the police that they wanted to replicate the Islamabad Marriott hotel attack, and reduce the Taj Hotel to rubble, replicating the 9/11 attacks in India.
Kasab and his accomplice Abu Dera Ismail Khan, then aged 25, attacked the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) railway station. They then moved on to attack a police vehicle (a white Toyota Qualis) at Cama Hospital, in which senior Mumbai police officers (Maharashtra ATS Chief Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police Ashok Kamte) were travelling. After killing them in a gun battle and taking two constables hostage in the Qualis, Kasab and Ismail Khan drove towards the Metro cinema. Kasab joked about the bulletproof vests worn by the police and killed one constable when his mobile phone rang. The two fired some shots into a crowd gathered at the Metro Cinema. They then drove to Vidhan Bhavan where they fired more shots. Their vehicle had a tire puncture, so they stole a silver Škoda Laura and drove towards Girgaum Chowpatty.
The D B Marg police had received a message from police control at about 10 pm, that two heavily armed men had gunned down commuters at CST. 15 policemen from D B Marg were sent to Chowpatty to set up a double barricade on Marine Drive. The Škoda reached Chowpatty and halted 40 to 50 feet from the barricade. It reversed and attempted a U-turn. A shootout ensued and Ismail Khan was killed. Kasab lay motionless playing dead. Assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, armed only with a lathi, charged the vehicle, being shot five times. Omble held onto Kasab's weapon, enabling Omble's colleagues to capture Kasab alive. Omble died from the bullet wounds. A mob gathered and attacked the two terrorists, which was captured on video.
Initially Kasab pretended to be dead and was being transported to the Nair Hospital when a police officer discovered Kasab was breathing. Seeing the mutilated body of another slain terrorist Kasab begged doctors to put him on saline, saying "I do not want to die". The doctors who treated Kasab said he had no bullet wounds.
Kasab told police he was trained to "kill to the last breath", Later, after interrogation in the hospital by the police, he said: "Now, I do not want to live", requesting the interrogators to kill him for the safety of his family in Pakistan, who could be killed or tortured for his surrender to Indian police. (Fidayeen suicide squad terrorists were instructed not to be captured and interrogated, use aliases instead of their real names, and hide their nationality. He is also quoted as saying "I have done right, I have no regrets". Reports also surfaced that the group planned to escape safely after the attack.)
Kasab told interrogators that all through the operation, the Lashkar headquarters from Karachi, Pakistan, remained in touch with the group, calling their phones through a voice-over-internet service. Investigators succeeded in reconstructing the group's journey through the Garmin GPS that was found on Kasab. The email sent from a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claiming responsibility was traced to a Russian proxy which was traced back to Lahore with the help of the FBI.
Read more about this topic: Ajmal Kasab
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