Mumbai Terror Attacks of 26/11 /2008 is still imprinted in the hearts and minds of every Indian citizen. The ex-Mumbai Top Cop, Rakesh Maria revealed that if Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was not caught alive, he would have died as Samir Dinesh Chaudhari, a resident of Bengaluru, Karnataka with a Kautuka (red- yellow religion thread) tied around his wrist.
In his book which is titled “Let Me Say It Now”, Former Mumbai Pollice Commissioner, Rakesh Maria indicated that had the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba succeeded in the plan, the whole terror attack could have been projected as “Hindu Terrorism”.
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Maria said “There would have been screaming headlines on newspapers claiming how Hindu terrorists had attacked Mumbai. Over the top TV journalists would have made a beeline for Bengaluru to interview his family and neighbours. But alas, it had not worked that way and here he was, Ajmal Amir Kasab of Faridkot in Pakistan”.
It was reported that the attackers possessed ID cards of the Arunodaya College, Hyderabad, which were a fake, and similar ID card was planned for Kasab as well. Maria, who was immediately promoted to the post of Director General of Home Guards while investigating the Sheena Bora case said that initially, Kasab joined the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for nothing more than committing robberies and had “nothing to do with Jihad”.
Maria said, “He and his friend Muzaffar Lal Khan wanted to commit robberies to improve their financial status and wanted to get hold of some weapons and training to achieve their nefarious objective”.
Adding to this, Maria said, “Kasab seriously believed that Muslims were not allowed to offer namaaz in India, and mosques were locked up by the authorities”. Kasab “felt that the azaan he heard five times a day in the crime branch lockup was just a figment of his imagination. When we came to know of this, I instructed Mahale” investigating officer Ramesh Mahale “to take him to the mosque near the metro cinema in a vehicle”.
The officer states that after seeing the namaaz at the mosque, Kasab was “bewildered”.
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Maria say that their chief priority was to keep Kasab alive at any cost. In the book, he writes, “Anger and hostility towards him” from the Mumbai Police Personnel “were perceptible”. “Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Lashkar were bent upon eliminating him by hook or crook to obliterate the only living evidence of their heinous deed.”
He even said that a gang of Dawood Ibrahim was tasked with eliminating Kasab.
Maria tells that the photos that were released of Kasab “was the handiwork of Central agencies”. “The Mumbai police tried hard to not disclose any details to the media, fearing for the security.”
The Ex-Commissioner of Mumbai Police also revealed that he himself interrogated Kasab every day, saying “It gave me a deep insight into the psyche of how terrorist outfits operated. Our daily interactions forged some sort of a bond between Kasab and me, and soon Kasab began addressing me respectfully as ‘Janab’ (sir)”.
According to the book, Kasab was not only provided with 3,000 rounds of training, but also a week-long holiday to visit the family and Rs. 1,25,000. Initially, the terror attack in Mumbai was supposed to be carried out on the 27th September 2008, which was the 27th day of the Roza, according to him.
