THE
KILLINGS
Mujhe gunah kabool
hai
(I admit my crime). We fired on the public at CST — Abu Ismail
and I. Ismail lobbed grenades and I fired with the gun. We went a little ahead
and entered a hall where we had a skirmish with the police. After another
exchange of fire, all was quiet. The photographs shown of us at CST are genuine.
We went back towards the platform, crossed an iron footbridge and descended into
an alley. I checked vehicles parked there so that we could drive off in one. The
CCTV footage shown of us around those cars is correct. However, none of the cars
could be opened and we proceeded on foot. Ismail and I loaded our AK-47s. On
walking a little ahead, we saw a man running. I fired at him and Ismail fired
inside a house.
When we reached the gate of Cama Hospital, we saw
that the wall was not too high and jumped over it. Ismail told me to wait while
he checked the premises. I heard the sound of gunfire. Ismail returned and asked
me to follow him. A man dressed in white was lying dead. I did not see his face.
Another man was lying on a stretcher in a pool of blood. We went up a flight of
stairs to the fifth floor. We stopped three persons in the ward, including a
witness in the present case, and asked him to lie down so that we could frisk
him. We then locked up five others, one of whom was lying in a pool of blood, in
a bathroom, warning them not to make any noise. We went up to the terrace. As
soon as we entered, we saw a man. I asked him to show us the way out. He
indicated that policemen were around — when we went down the staircase, we
saw them for ourselves. I ran back and told Ismail.
He asked me
where they were, but by then we could hear a commotion that the police had
arrived. Ismail was near the door. He asked me to keep a watch on the terrace
and asked for a grenade. I removed all the weapons from my bag and put them in
Ismail’s bag. Firing started. I kept a watch on the terrace. Then we
started running downstairs and someone fired upon us. I returned fire and came
down. Ismail went out first. We could see policemen near the gate, but they
didn’t notice us. Ismail said we should hide. There was a door near the
wall, and a person was sitting outside the hall of the hospital. I warned him to
keep mum, and we managed to get out of the hospital.
On the road, we
saw a big blue vehicle coming towards us. We hid behind a small stall. The blue
vehicle came nearer and Ismail lobbed a grenade at it. We then walked up to a
bank and hid in some bushes. We saw the headlights of a vehicle, and as it came
nearer to us there was firing from it. Ismail started firing back. I was injured
on my right forearm, left wrist and right elbow. (Shows his injuries in court).
My gun fell out of my hand and I also fell down. The firing continued, and
Ismail walked towards the vehicle. He went to check it and kept firing on it. By
then I got up and took my gun in my hand. I opened the doors of the police
vehicle and found its occupants dead. We removed their bodies. Ismail started
the jeep and I sat next to him. In the meantime there was firing on the vehicle
but none of the bullets hit us. Ismail started driving with his left hand and
firing with the other one. We took a right turn.
Maine kaha main chal nahin sakta
(I
said I wouldn’t be able to walk). Ismail said
‘
Tu hausla mat haar. Mujhe bhi goli lagi
hai
’ (Don’t lose courage. I have also been shot). He said he
had been shot in the knee. I could tell from the noise of the wheel that it had
been punctured. We did not know the roads. We saw policemen in a motor vehicle,
and on seeing weapons in our hands they started firing at us. We fired in
retaliation and the cops left the spot to hide. We decided to stop a vehicle. A
Skoda car, with two men and a woman in it, was passing, and we stopped it and
made the occupants get out. I told Ismail that we should conceal our weapons
somewhere so that nobody would be able to recognise us. We continued to drive on
the same road and reached the same spot where we had hijacked the car. We saw
the owner telling the police that it was his car. We started following a white
car. A little ahead we could see barriers on the road. The white car went past
them but policemen directed us to stop. I asked Ismail to slow down. A policeman
came in front of the car. Ismail tried taking a U-turn. We could not understand
anything and suddenly the wipers also started. Policemen came to the car, and
one of them caught me by the collar. He pulled me out of the car. I was
surrounded by policemen and one of them snatched my AK-47, which was in my hand.
They started hitting me in my stomach and also with the butt of my gun. I did
not fire. When I regained consciousness I was in hospital. I had not fired
because I could not hold my gun.
HUM
DUS THE (WE WERE TEN)
We travelled from Karachi in a small
boat. Four persons came to see us off — Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Abu Hamza,
Abu Kafa and Abu Jundala. I did not know the others personally but I can tell
their names. Abu Ismail (he was our boss), Abu Akasha, Abu Umer, Abu Shoaib, Abu
Ali, Abdul Rehman Chhota, Abdul Rehman Bada, Hafiz Arshad and Abu Fadaullah, who
had a finger missing. A small boat from Karachi transported us to a big boat,
which we used to get on to the high seas. There were three people on the small
boat. I only remember the name of Hakib. On the big boat called ‘Al
Huseini’ we slept and said our namaaz. When it sailed there were seven
people on it — Murshad, Aqib, Usman... I don’t remember the other
names. Murshad was the boss.
We were looking for another boat and
spotted one. At 4 pm, it was brought to ‘Al Huseini’ and we started
loading it with oil, blankets, rations and other things. The remaining articles
were thrown into the sea. Murshad asked the five crew members of the other boat
who their ‘naqva’ (navigator) was, and Amarjit Singh Solanki said it
was him. The other four were taken to ‘Al Huseini’ and Singh
remained on board. Murshad told us to take blankets and go to sleep. He told
Ismail to take Solanki’s help in case of difficulty. A big GPS set was
also given to Ismail, which we threw into the sea when we reached
India.
THE
TRAINING
Last year, when I was working as a decorator in
Jhelum city, my colleague, Muzaffar, suggested that we turn to dacoity for
better money. I left the job, went to Rawalpindi with him and took a room on
rent. We decided to commit dacoity at a certain bungalow. I was roaming alone at
Rawalpindi’s Raza market when I saw some Mujahideens buying animal skins.
From my childhood, I had been hearing of these Mujahideens. They are known by
their long hair and beards. A few days later, Muzaffar returned and we both
visited the same market and were discussing our plans to rob the bungalow. I
repeatedly asked him where we would get the weapons and how would we pull it
off. I told him then that I had seen Mujahideens at the market, and that we
could get weapons training from them, to which he agreed. We found out where
their office was, and went there. A man asked me what I had come for. I told him
we had come for Jihad, so he let us in. One person asked me my name, address and
asked me to return next morning with extra clothes.
We returned with our
baggage and we were given a chit on which was written the address of a training
camp in Muridke. Three weeks later, I was sent from there to another camp. In
the evening we went to Buttal jungle, where I met Muzaffar. We were given 21
days of training. After his training was over, Muzaffar’s brother took him
back home but I was told that I was going for bigger training.
Here,
I was taught exercises, operating weapons like AK-47, guns and pistols. Three
months went by like this. My trainer Abu Abdul Rehman asked me to bring my
identity card from my native Okara district. I visited an office in Model Town
there and was asked to go to Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir. Once in Muzaffarabad,
I was asked to look for Saeed Bhai’s office. I told them that I had come
for Daura-E-Khaas (special training), and filled up a form. The next morning, we
reached a training camp, where Abu Maaviya was our trainer and trained me for
three months in operating rocket launchers, grenades, AK-47s and other
sophisticated weapons. Then I was sent to my Faridkot home. I was told to return
to Saeed Bhai’s office after a week, which I did.
Ten days
later, Saeed bhai, Abu Kafa and Abu Hamza came there and selected 15 of us. We
were taken to Muzaffarabad and then to Muridke. Kafa was with me and we were
trained to swim. A month later, we were taken to Karachi’s seashore from
where we were taken in small boats to big ones. The idea was to check if we
could adjust to the sea’s rough weather or not, and to see if we suffered
from sea-sickness. We were then brought back to the same place and then two days
later, we were again taken to Muzaffarabad where we met Hamza.
Of the
15 of us, two had run away, while six were sent to Kashmir. So seven of us were
left, to which three other boys were added, making us ten in all. Hamza had a
separate room, to which he would call us in pairs. On two occasions, he showed
Ismail and me movies and pictures of CST station on his laptop. We were then
taken to forests, trained further in firing, and were brought back. Two days
later, we were given trousers and T-shirts, and our photographs were taken and
our fake ID-cards made. Kafa took us to Karachi and gave us small bomb kits. We
were asked to note down the time when the bomb kit’s battery would turn
on.
We stayed there for more than 90 days. We were trained to use an
inflatable boat. It is the same boat produced in court. In Karachi we stayed in
the same house that was shown on Geo TV. Two or three days before November 22,
2008, Hamza again came and played the same CST video to us. We were given arms
and ammunition. Those bags were transported to Al-Huseini.
Kafa took
us to the Karachi shore where Al-Huseini was anchored. Lakhwi, Hamza and Abu
Jundal joined Kafa on the shore, while we were to leave for Mumbai.
Jundal Hindustani hai, unhonein hi humein
Hindi sikhaaein
. My wish is that you should end this trial and punish me.
I wanted to confess much earlier but could not do so as Pakistan had
disowned me. Now Pakistan is saying that I am a Pakistani.
They are
also going to prosecute the offenders. Don’t ask me how I know all this. I
just do. You
should accept my confession and punish me.
QnA: Has the UPA govt been effective in dealing with Pakistan
with respect to 26/11?
Will we see justice delivered in time in the Kasab
case?