Voice samples match 26/11 intercepts, says Pakistan

Pakistan's Federal Investigating Agency has indicated to Indian officials that they have a water-tight case against Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and 28 other accused in 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Shishir Gupta reports.

Pakistan's Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) has indicated to Indian officials that they have a water-tight case against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and 28 other accused in 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

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They have matched the voices of terrorists Abu Al Qama and Zarar Shah with the samples of the communication intercepts between Karachi-based LeT handlers and the Mumbai attackers on November 26, 2008, which were provided by India.

FIA has chargesheeted as many as 29 people in the 26/11 case with LeT terrorists Lakhvi, Shahid Jamal Baig, Mazhar Iqbal aka Abu Al Qama, Hammad Amin Sadiq and Abdul Wajid aka Zarar Shah already in preventive custody.

Sources said Pakistan authorities had discreetly shared their findings with Indian home ministry official Dharmendra Sharma, who had stayed back in Islamabad for two more days after three of his colleagues returned to New Delhi, on December 24, 2012.

The Pakistan officials told Sharma that they were confident of convicting Lakhvi, but still had to find evidence against Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed.

New Delhi had provided a CD of the communication between the handlers and the terrorists during the 26/11 attacks to Islamabad in January 2009.

Senior officials said that Pakistan shared vital evidence in 26/11 case with the Indian team, including a slip of paper, which showed the distribution of arms, ammunition and grenades among the 10 LeT gunmen before they boarded Al Fouz vessel in a creek near Karachi.

This crucial evidence was seized from the caretaker of a 48-acre plot in Karachi, where the 10 terrorists were trained by Hafiz Saeed, Lakhvi, Sajid Mir, Al Qama and Zarar Shah.

The shared evidence and the talks between the two delegations in Islamabad last month have been discussed, with Sharma personally briefing home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, secretary RK Singh and joint secretary (Pakistan) in foreign ministry Yash Sinha.