Ashok Prasad, former special director of Intelligence Bureau. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Pakistan planned to attribute the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 to “disgruntled Indian Muslims” against the background created by the country-wide attacks orchestrated by the Indian Mujahideen (IM), a home-grown terror group controlled from Karachi and having close links to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and backed by Pakistan’s ISI, Ashok Prasad, former special director of Intelligence Bureau (IB), told The Hindu.
The 26/11 attack in Mumbai is back in focus after the extradition of Tahawwur Rana from the U.S. last week. Rana, a Canadian-U.S. citizen who had opened an immigration centre in Mumbai as a cover for the main accused David Coleman Headley’s mission, is presently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). It was with the help of videos made by Headley that the attack was planned in Pakistan. Headley, a double agent of U.S. authorities and the Pakistani ISI, entered into a plea bargain with the U.S. government, protecting him from extradition to India.
WATCH | Tahawwur Rana extradited | Justice for 26/11 closer?
IM conducted serial blasts across the country from 2007-2013. “The attack revealed the true hydra-headed nature of global state-sponsored jehadi terrorism. Thus, Pakistani agencies were able to motivate Pak-American citizen David Coleman Headley through the LeT in Pakistan, facilitate his movement and travel from Canada through Tahawwur Rana, recce targets across India, routing movement through Nepal and Bangladesh, collecting and collating target data in Karachi,” Mr. Prasad said.
He said the 10 terrorists were recruited and extensively trained in Pakistan with inputs from IM elements. “The attack was launched by sea with communication being maintained through a communication node in New Jersey, financed and coordinated from Spain and Italy,” he said.
The former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said had it not been for the slain Mumbai Police constable Tukaram Omble who overpowered one of the terrorists — Ajmal Kasab — that the true nature of the operation and the extent of Pakistan’s involvement could be unravelled.
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Indian ID documents
“The 10 Pakistani terrorists who carried the 26/11 attack had Indian identity documents… according to the ISI’s plan, the claim was to be made in the name of Deccan Mujahideen, basically with the intention of attributing the entire attack to an Indian group. The intention was to portray India as an unsafe investment destination, due to instability and violent backlash arising out of persecution of minorities,” he said.
The officer added that if Kasab was not caught alive, the entire conspiracy could not have been revealed.
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“The U.S. knew about Headley, they communicated information in bits and pieces. The dinghy (inflatable boat used in the terror attack) was sourced from Japan and shipped to Karachi. The biggest hero is Tukaram Omble, had it not been for him, we would not have the entire conspiracy. In fact, in the initial stages, some western agencies even suspected it was an Indian plot to defame Pakistan. After it was unravelled, this deception of Pakistan was exposed before the entire world and they were isolated.
At least 166 persons were killed in the 26/11 terror attack, who included six Americans.
Published – April 15, 2025 10:19 pm IST
