US Ambassador David C Mulford today met Home Minister P Chidambaram here in the backdrop of Washington’s offer to collaborate with New Delhi following the Mumbai terror attacks.
The 40-minute meeting at North Block came amid reports of India compiling evidence about the role of Pakistan-based elements in the terror strikes for sharing it with the world even as Islamabad continues to be in denial mode.
The evidence, being put together, includes the confession of the lone terrorist held in Mumbai terror attack Ajmal Amir Kasab, logbook recovered from the vessel in which the 10 terrorists came from Karachi, records of satellite phone used by the attackers and transcript of conversations between the attackers and their handlers in Pakistan, sources said.
The dossier will also include the corroborative evidence tracking the journey of the attackers from Karachi to Mumbai, they said. Officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation have already questioned Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Lashkar-e-Taiba militant involved in the November 26 strikes, to ascertain his role and those of his handlers in Pakistan.
The US, which witnessed the deadly 9/11 attacks seven years ago, is working through a package for India on dealing with the situation arising out of the “horrific” Mumbai strikes by way of information sharing, collaboration and cooperation.
The evidence will mostly include Kasab’s confession to the police wherein he has given details of how he became a motivated terrorist of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) from a normal youth of Faridkot in Pakistan’s Punjab province. Investigators have found evidence to show that the terrorists, who struck at the Taj Hotel, Trident Hotel and Nariman House on November 26, were in touch with their handlers in Karachi even while their three-day engagement with security forces was on.
As the armed engagement was being telecast live by Indian TV channels, the LeT commanders in Pakistan were found giving directions to the attackers like ‘set ablaze the hotel’ and ‘throw grenades’ on the crowds outside the hotels and Nariman House. The evidence will be shared with Pakistan along with the US, the UK, China and other countries which have influence on Islamabad.