Mumbai Thugs Aimed to Squeeze Press With Hostages

Gunman reveals how plans to force media demands went awry

By Amelia Atlas, Newser User

Posted Dec 14, 2008 6:14 AM CST

(Newser) – Mumbai terrorists originally planned to take hostages and use them to make demands of the media, a captured gunmen has revealed. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and his partner, responsible for a massacre at the train station, intended to take hostages to a rooftop, but couldn't find a suitable building, reports AP. From the roof, they were supposed to call suspected mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi for further instructions.

Kasab described how the attackers entered Mumbai by sea, hijacking an Indian boat and killing all the crew but one, who led them to Mumbai's coast at gunpoint. Kasab has requested "legal aid" from the Pakistani consulate, though it's not clear if his letter has been delivered. Islamabad has not acknowledged that Kasab is from Pakistan, claiming that India has not yet provided proof.

[Images (3)]

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A Railway Special Forces guard stands watch at Mumbai's main train station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, in Mumbai, India, early this month. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das)

Mumbai massacre gunman Mohammed Ajmal Kasab stands at the Chatrapathi Sivaji railway station. Kasab was a petty Pakistani street thug trained in jihadist camps, he has revealed. (AP Photo/Mumbai Mirror, Sebastian D'souza, File)

Indian police officers stand guard outside Mumbai police headquarters where the only surviving attacker, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, is held. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

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Ismail and myself went to the common toilet, took out the weapons from our sacks, loaded them, came out of toilet and started firing indiscriminately toward the passengers. - Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, surviving gunman

Each of us was given a sack containing 8 grenades, one AK47 rifle, 200 cartridges, two magazines and one cell phone for communication. - Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, surviving gunman

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Mumbai Thugs Aimed to Squeeze Press With Hostages