Back To: Index File

Terrorist Kasab says his dad was paid by terrorists

     Mumbai: The sole surviving terrorist that attacked Mumbai last week, killing about 195 people and injuring 295 others, has revealed that his father was paid by a Pakistan-based militant group to hand him over. Azam Amir Kasab, 21, a Pakistani national from Faridkot in Punjab province, said that his father, Amir, introduced him to a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander. The commander, known as "chacha" (uncle), paid his father, The Times quotes Kasab, as saying. Security experts say that payment is one of three main recruitment tools used by Islamist extremists. The other two are the madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, scattered across Pakistan, and threats of violence, often made to the families of those being recruited. It is thought that as many as 15 Indian officials are sitting in on the militant's interrogation, and many are leaking their interpretations of his responses to the media. Others are speculating that the fact that Kasab apparently speaks fluent English indicates he is probably from Pakistan's relatively wealthy middle classes. Experts also believe it is unlikely that a recruit who had been coerced would be sent on an attack of the scale of Mumbai. "They would not send somebody who would compromise the mission," Dr. Lakshman, of the Delhi-based Institute for Conflict Management, said Indian officials remain convinced that the attack on Mumbai bears the hallmark of Lashkar-e-Toiba, which was believed to be behind a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. They also believe that Lashkar-e-Toiba does not act without the sanction of some part of the Pakistan government. Officials are also concerned that five terrorist gunmen that have escaped after the carnage and could strike again. The prospect of more killers has added to public anger at the Indian Government's lax handling of the worst terror strike to hit the country in 15 years.
- Dec 3, 2008

 Go To Top