On November 26, 2008, as Mumbai was under siege and the National Security Guard (NSG) battled it out with the terrorists, an Intelligence Bureau team was carefully recording the VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) conversations the terrorists in the Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi and Nariman House were having with their handlers in Pakistan.
Hindustan Times accessed the dossier that the Ministry of External Affairs handed over to Pakistan on Monday with a demand that action be taken against the terror masterminds.
Apart from the conversations, the dossier contains evidence in the form of electronic data retrieved from the GPS devices tracing the terrorists’ journey from Karachi to Mumbai, the payment made to the internet service provider for the voice calls, text messages retrieved from their cellphones, decoded exchanges between the terrorists and weapons with Pakistani markings.
Below is an excerpt from one of the intercepted conversations between two terrorists at the Oberoi — Abdul Rehman and Fahadullah — and top Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyeba commanders Abu Kahafa and Zarar Shah.
Kahafa: Brother Abdul. The media is comparing your action to 9/11. One senior police officer has been killed.
Rehman: We are on the 10th-11th floor. We have five hostages.
{{/usCountry}}Rehman: We are on the 10th-11th floor. We have five hostages.
{{/usCountry}}Kahafa: Everything is being recorded by the media. Inflict maximum damage. Keep fighting. Don't be taken alive.
Kahafa: Kill all hostages. Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire.
Fahadullah: We have three foreigners including, women... from Singapore and China.
Kahafa: Kill them.
(Voices of Fahadullah and Rehman directing hostages to stand in a line. Sound of gunfire. Cheers heard in the background as Kahafa hands the phone to Shah)
Shah: Fahad, make your way downstairs.