Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News ServiceNew Delhi, December 1
With concrete evidence in hand of Pakistan-based organisations and persons having carried out terror strikes in Mumbai, India will ask the United States to ensure that major corrective measures are taken by Pakistan within a specific time frame.
Indian security agencies are collating all evidence that will be given to the US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice to expose how people based in Pakistan and its spy agency Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) were connected to the recent attacks on India’s financial capital.
The United States has told Pakistan to clearly go by evidence provided by India and help in fighting terrorism with absolute cooperation.
Rice will arrive in India on Wednesday to ease tensions between India and Pakistan. In India, the security agencies are ready with telephone intercepts of discussions between militants carrying out attacks in Mumbai and their chiefs across the border. In all, there are more than 60 such transcripts, said a source, adding a number of these calls have been traced to known ISI numbers and other locations in Pakistan.
The two captured fishing boats, with jackets and fuel cans made in Karachi, hold enough evidence of Pakistan’s involvement. The satellite phones and global positioning system (GPS) on the boat are other proofs.
“The statements given by captured militant Ajmal Amin Kamal of how they came to India using a Pakistan vessel are also significant,” added sources. Kamal is learnt to have told interrogators that all the terrorists had come from Pakistan. He has also told that they were part of the Lashkar-e-Toiba and were trained in marine warfare.
The identity cards and the ATM cards are being
searched. Already, the federal bureau of investigation (FBI) has sent a team to Mumbai.
The investigators will also rely on the forensic evidence to track down the entire team involved in the operation. The cell phones and identification cards recovered from the terrorists have been sent to the forensic wing for analysis.
Meanwhile, Rice’s visit assumes importance as western intelligence agencies have speculated that a full-scale attack could be launched by India against Pakistan. This is the cause of concern with both countries having nuclear capabilities, said a source.
London: Condoleezza Rice today urged Pakistan to give its “absolute, total” cooperation in finding those responsible for last week’s attacks on India’s financial capital Mumbai.
Rice, who is due in India on Wednesday to try and lower tensions with its rival Pakistan, said the US made clear to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari that there must be complete.
