Lashkar men guarding Lakhvi in Pak prison

In a revelation that raises questions over the 26/11 Mumbai attacks trial taking place in Pakistan, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal has told interrogators that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) military commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was being guarded in jail by LeT operatives.

In a revelation that raises questions over the 26/11 Mumbai attacks trial taking place in Pakistan, Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal has told interrogators that Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) military commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was being guarded in jail by LeT operatives.

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Under intense international pressure after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, Pakistan was forced to place LeT brass behind bars and put them on trial as well. But Jundal's disclosure makes it clear that Pakistan is enacting a sham in the name of trial.

Besides Lakhvi, Pakistan has so far arrested five accused in connection with the 26/11 attacks. They include Abdul Wajid alias Zarar Shah, Mazhar Iqbal alias Abu al Qama, Hammad Amin sadiq and Shaid Jamil Riyaz. All have been lodged in the high-security Adiala jail in Pakistan.

“Jundal has told interrogators that after his marriage when had went to meet Lakhvi in Adiala jail, there were no jail guards for Lakhvi. He was being guarded by his own LeT men,” said a security official, who has been briefed on Jundal's interrogation. Besides Lakhvi's own guards, he has also been provided all comforts and communication facilities to stay in touch with his men.

Jundal has also revealed that an ISI official Major Sameer Ali was staying with Lakhvi in Karachi house that doubled up as their control room during the 26/11 attacks.

Disclosing the reality behind the Pakistan's crackdown on LeT after the 26/11 attacks, Jundal told interrogators that Sameer Ali asked them to leave the control room. They all left in different groups for Baitul Mujahidden, the LeT training camp in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir's Muzaffrabad.

When sleuths from Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency came looking for Lakhvi and his deputy Muzzaamil in Baitul Mujahideen, Sameer Ali was also there. But, according to Jundal, the Pakistani sleuths deliberately let the ISI official sneak away. After a few weeks when Jundal went back to Baitul Mujahideen, he found Muzaamil there, who was picked up along with Lakhvi but then set free.

Muzzamil reportedly took Jundal to an ISI officer who was introduced to him as Colonel Hamza. Hamza assured them that they will not be arrested but that they would have to lie low.