GPS records,CD transcript matches boost Indias case

India has been asking for these samples for some time now without much success. But that said,there has been a detailed follow-up investigation on all the evidence. The invisible hand of FBI,which acted as a playmaker of sorts,has come out clearly. In the end,the Pakistani side seems to have mostly followed up on all the findings that the FBI had first confirmed.

GPS and Kasabs interrogation

Investigations in Pakistan on the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai clearly gathered momentum after India passed on its first detailed dossier in January 2009. The first corroboration came from the GPS records. All of it matched what the Pak FIA had till then found on its own.

The interim chargesheet states that the coordinates provided in the GPS information passed on by India correlated with four locations: the boat Al Fouz docked at Karachi fish harbour,which has now been seized,accused crew member residence,LeT training camps at Yousaf Goth and Mirpur Sakro,and boats docked at the creek.

Besides this,the GPS data also matched with the location of 44 Millat Town,Karachi,which was used for preparations. Soon after the attack,accused Hammad Amin Sadiq shifted to nearby 46 Millat Town.

However,on the question of Lakhvi,the FIAs chargesheet draws only from information supplied by India and has not unearthed any fresh evidence from its side. The mainstay here is Ajmal Amir Kasabs confession statement which,the document points out,was recorded in Hindi and Marathi.

As a result,Pakistani investigators had to engage the services of Dr Naseema Khatoon,professor in the National University of Modern Languages,Islamabad. It was she who translated the statement into English,and recorded her statement in this regard. He has given his inculpatory statement implicating Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi,Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu Al Qama,Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah and Hakim real name Shahid Ghafoor, states the chargesheet.

Subsequently,the FIA decided to back these findings. As the document states: The joint investigation team headed by Director SIG FIA has scrutinised the entire evidence collected during inquiry as well as investigation and has unanimously agreed that substantial incriminating evidence is available on the record to directly connect all the accused persons with the commission of the offense.

To strengthen its case,the FIA has included in the court challan the part of Kasabs interrogation where he speaks about his handlers. But in the case of Abu Al Qama alias Mazhar Iqbal and Zarar Shah,the FIA has done a bit more and have confirmed that they were indeed the persons giving instructions to the terrorists in Mumbai.

CDs and fingerprints

The chargesheet has recorded that the Indian side passed on CDs containing conversations between Pak-based handlers and the terrorists. This amounted to three volumes of transcripts,which the investigators carefully scrutinised and admitted to the court: The accused handlers Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu Al Qama and Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah8230; are giving instructions and directions from Pakistan to their terrorists8230; for carrying out deadly terrorist attacks and inciting terrorists to commit maximum murders of innocent persons including political leaders,foreigners and prominent personalities etc.

On the two other accused named by India,Abu Hamza and Kahfa,the Pakistani investigators have told the court that have not yet been able to identify them.

The Pakistan FIA has,with the help of fingerprints of the terrorists passed on by India,also confirmed the identities of two other terrorists Imran Baber,who attacked Nariman House,and Abdul Rehman Chhota,who was holed up in Oberoi Hotel. One Shabahuddin from Multan has been confirmed as Imrans father while Nazir Ahmed has been confirmed as father of Abdul Rehman Chhota,whose real name has turned out to be Mohammed Altaf.

In all,the Pakistani side has recorded that seven fingerprints were handed over,of which two have matched. Kasabs antecedents too have been traced and the investigators have told the court that he belonged to Okara. Later,blood samples and DNA matching was also conducted after the FBI passed on the material last May,which further confirmed the identities and antecedents.

Communications uncovered

Two critical pieces of information on which there was considerable doubt have been independently corroborated by the Pakistani investigators first,that one of the Thuraya numbers,881655526412,that was recovered from the Mumbai scene and used by the terrorists was issued in Saudi Arabia to a Pakistani national Jamil Ahmed; and second,the famous Kharak Singh client identity on which VoIP accounts were opened through US-based company Callphonex,was created on October 10,2008 from Karachi and operated from there as well as Muzaffarabad Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

Pursuing the lead on the Thuraya phone,the Pakistani FIA,in fact,wrote to Interpol Riyadh,asking for details of Thuraya SIM 881655526412. In response to our letter dated 26-2-09,Interpol Riyadh,KSA,confirmed that the above mentioned SIM had been issued in the name of Jamil Ahmed Pakistan national r/o Batgram,passport no. 0489985. During investigations,Jamil Ahmed has also been arrested.

The FIA says that upon interrogation,Jamil Ahmed confessed to having facilitated the transfer of large sums of money to Shahid Jamil Riazs Karachi account,from where the Mumbai terror attack was funded.

As for the VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol connection is concerned,Pak FIAs Deputy Director,Forensics,Nauman Ashraf Bodla has submitted an entire report that confirms setting up of the network from Pakistan. This has been stated up front in the chargesheet:

The email correspondence and chat logs clearly indicate that the email account kharaktelcoyahoo.com which was used to create the said VoIP account on 20.10.08,was registered and used from Karachi using Wateen and World Call Internet connections and Muzaffarabad,AJK using SNET/SCO internet connection for communication with Callphonex,USA.

This was the same account the terrorists also used to obtain instructions. The same VoIP account of Kharak Singh was used by the accused handlers to communicate with the three Indian cell phone numbers 9820704561,981946430 and 9910719424 during the Mumbai terror attacks.

There is,however,the curious case of one Pakistan mobile number 0321-5023113,which has received calls from accused Shahid Jamil Riaz and Amjid Khan as well as from the terrorists in Mumbai. All that the Pakistani investigators have said is that this number was issued on a fake identity of G-9/2 Islamabad.

Other details

It may be recalled that Mumbai police had also recovered an empty bag of flour with the address and phone number of a store,Qamar Food Product,Hari Atta Chakki,Plot mo. 3/3 Raita Plot,Shah Faisal Town,Karachi. This was followed up,and the store was located. Its owner Waqar Ahmed Farooqi has given his statement. The final word in the chargesheet,which lists testimonies of 116 individuals and has attached 150 documents along with 20 accused of which seven had been arrested,is clear: Sufficient incriminating evidence is available on record connecting the accused persons with the commission of offence.