Taj attackers were Indians, One from Mumbai: Kasab

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole gunman captured during the November 26, 2008, terror strike, claimed that the four terrorists who attacked Taj hotel were Indians on Monday.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole gunman captured during the November 26, 2008, terror strike, claimed that the four terrorists who attacked Taj hotel were Indians on Monday.

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And one of them was a Mumbai resident, he added.

Kasab, in his statement before the special court, claimed that the police had disposed of the bodies of two terrorists who attacked Taj hotel as they were Indians.

“While one of them, Abu Ali, was a Kashmiri native, another was from Gujarat,” Kasab told Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani when questioned about the test identification parade of seven of the slain 26/11 attackers.

“They [the police] have valid evidence, I was shown their photographs,” he said. “A SIM card originating in Kashmir was recovered from Ali.”

The suspected Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operative later changed his version saying three of the Taj attackers were Indians. He changed his statement again to add his slain partner, Abu Ismail, to the list, claiming he was from Mumbai.

“Woh yehan ka, Bombay ka tha (He was from here, from Mumbai),” Kasab said. “Aap shakal se andaja laga sakte hai (You can judge from his facial features).”

Kasab and Ismail, who was gunned down at Girgaum Chowpatty, allegedly killed several people inside CST and in and around Cama Hospital.

Kasab has denied his involvement in the attacks claiming he was picked up by the police 20 days before the attack and was “fixed” in the case, as he is a Pakistani.