Cracking 7/11

Hatched in 8217;05-end; handiwork of 11 Pakistanis; 1 died in Mahim blast, another in Antop Hill encounter; rest may have left India

The Mumbai police said the 7/11 plot was put into motion in March this year, but had been hatched in 2005-end. Three groups of Pakistani militants entered the city through different routes, and finally carried out the blasts, said city police chief A N Roy at a press conference today.

8220;On May 25, Kamal Ansari brought two Pakistanis into Mumbai from the Nepal border. Sometime later, Mohammed Majid arrested from the outskirts of Kolkata yesterday escorted five Pakistanis from the Bangladesh border, while four others entered through Gujarat,8221; said Roy.

8220;Of these 11 Pakistani men, one from Lahore named Salim died in the explosion at Mahim railway station as he couldn8217;t get out of the train after planting the bomb, and another named Abu Osama alias Abu Umed was killed in an encounter at Antop Hill police station. The other 9 Pakistanis may have left the country, but we do not want to reveal their names yet, as efforts are on to trace them,8221; said Roy.

Roy, however, left a lot of questions unanswered. Most striking of them was about the involvement of Abu Osama, who was killed in an encounter at Antop Hill on August 22, who he claimed was one of the 11 Pakistani militants. The police don8217;t yet have an explanation as to why he was in the city even after a month of the blasts and don8217;t know if his associate Mohammed Riaz Nawabuddin , who was arrested, was involved.

The 11 Pakistanis, on reaching Mumbai, stayed at Malad, Bandra, Borivali East and Mumbra, said the police. Their accommodation was arranged by Faizal and his aides.

According to the police, the 15 to 20 kg of RDX used in the blasts, was brought into the city by a Pakistani named Ehsanullah. The ammonium nitrate and fuel oil used was sourced from within the city. 8220;The explosive devices were made on July 8, 9 and 10 at Mohammed Ali8217;s house in Shivaji Nagar at Govandi. They were then taken to Faizal8217;s house in Bandra. Eight Kanchan brand pressure cookers were bought from two different shops, and the explosives packed in them,8221; said Roy.

He added that about 2 kg of RDX and 4 kg of ammonium nitrate was used in each bomb, and quartz timers were used. The bombs were then kept in bags and covered with umbrellas and newspapers. 8220;We are investigating what happened to the eighth pressure cooker,8221; said Roy.

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The bombs were planted in all seven trains at Churchgate station. The bombers8212;as reported first in The Sunday Express8212;used the subway to get into the first-class compartments, bang opposite the subway entrances on each of Churchgate8217;s four platforms. The police said each bomb was planted by a Pakistani accompanied by a local. The bombers then travelled on the train together, getting off at a station before the explosion was timed.

8220;We have identified all seven local planters, and are on the lookout for three of them. One of them will be arrested soon. Faizal Sheikh planted the bomb that went off at Jogeshwari, Kamal Ansari the one at Matunga, Ehteshaam Siddiqui the one at Mira Road and Navid Husain Khan a call centre employee arrested from Hyderabad and produced in court today the one at Khar,8221; said Roy.