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New Delhi, Nov 25 (IANS) It has been 17 years since the horrific 26/11 attacks in Mumbai that took the lives of over 160 people, perhaps one of the most daring attacks in the country and left the never-sleeping city stunned for almost 48 hours, when ten Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists wreaked havoc here.
After 17 years, investigators have managed to solve many mysteries related to the attack.
However, there are still a lot of unanswered questions, and the two most important questions relate to the local angle and the identity of the mysterious Sajid Mir.
Revealing Mir’s real identity has always been a challenge for the security agencies.
Actually, Mir played the most important role in the attack. Before the attacks, he had visited India for the first time as a cricket fan. Officials say that during that trip they identified the targets to be attacked.
Taj Mahal Hotel, Oberoi, Trident and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal are all famous landmarks. However, investigators were surprised that the terrorists had identified the little-known Nariman House, now known as the Chabad House. Many people in the area were unaware of such a location, and investigators felt that the target must have been identified by someone who knew the town very well.
This raises the question whether Dawood Ibrahim had a hand in the attack? He was born and brought up in Mumbai and his work area was spread across the city.
An Intelligence Bureau official said there was no doubt that Mir had consulted with Dawood and his men before identifying the targets. Moreover, it was Dawood and Tiger Memon who had identified the targets during the 1993 serial bomb blasts in the city and hence, their expertise would have been sought for the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.
After consulting with Dawood, Mir visited India as a cricket fan. During his trip, he visited each of these places, after which he held several meetings with David Hadley. Mir briefed Headley about the goals he was focused on. After this, Headley was entrusted with the task of conducting detailed reconnaissance of all these targets and providing a map of them.
Despite numerous requests, Pakistan has consistently denied Mir’s existence. Later it also tried to present Mir as a cleric of his country.
However, the evidence India is collecting clearly shows that Mir was an ISI agent at the time of the attack.
Indian officials confirmed that Mir was initially part of the Pakistani army and was later inducted into the ISI. The change in his role was specifically in relation to the Mumbai 26/11 attacks. He oversaw every detail of the attack including recruitment, planning, logistics and training.
Mir enlisted Major Iqbal and Major Sameer Ali to train ten terrorists.
It is important to unravel the mystery about the three ISI officers to highlight the role of the Pakistani establishment in the attack.
More importantly, these were serving officers at the time, and this makes the attack even more audacious in nature. Pakistan usually deploys retired officers to carry out such attacks, but the involvement of serving officers only shows how deep the conspiracy ran.
While Headley talked little about the role of the Pakistan establishment because of the plea bargain deal with the FBI, a lot will now depend on Tavvahur Rana. Their investigation is still ongoing and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is hopeful that Rana will help in completing the puzzle.
A lot will be expected from Rana not just about his role in the attack or his relationship with Headley.
Rana, who has confessed that he is a former Pakistan Army officer, would be able to provide complete information about the role of the establishment. Most importantly, he will be able to put an end to all the mysteries related to Mir once and for all.
Officials say that Mir is a very dangerous person. A detailed dossier on Mir will have to be prepared so that Pakistan cannot use his services again.
Deploying a person of Mir’s caliber is a major security threat to India, because the kind of skills he possesses was evident in the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.
–IANS
Vicky/VD