ISI added 'love' to 'jihad' to motivate Kasab and comrades for carrying out 26/11 Mumbai attacks

By Ajit K Dubey  |  First Published Nov 25, 2018, 4:58 PM IST

Kasab and the other terrorists chosen for the Mumbai attack were promised marriage with beautiful girls by their handlers. 

New Delhi: Pakistani handlers of the 26/11 terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab, did not rely on just religious brainwashing of their trainees, but also enticed them with proposals of marriage with beautiful girls after they returned from their mission. This was done to make Kasab and his comrades carry out one of the deadliest attacks on the Indian soil.

The revelation was made by Kasab to a senior government official who had interrogated him soon after he was arrested alive by the Mumbai Police. Kasab was part of a team of 10 terrorists who launched a deadly attack in Mumbai on November 26, 2008. He was captured following exemplary bravery by Mumbai Police sub-inspector Tukaram Omble. 

"He was speaking in Punjabi the way it is spoken on the Pakistani side and would break down in between the conversation," the officer told MyNation on the condition of anonymity. 

Also read— Exclusive Interview of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat : India Will Reply if Another 26/11 Happens

According to the interaction of Kasab and the officer, after Kasab and his fellow terrorists had gone into training for a few days, one of their handlers took Kasab to a room and said they would also arrange for his marriage once he returned from Mumbai after carrying out the mission against the Indians.

Till that time, they were being shown doctored videos and movies about how the Indian state was committing atrocities against the Muslims in India and how they had to take revenge for that.

In the meeting with Kasab, the handler showed him a few pictures of beautiful-looking girls and asked him whether he would want to marry any of them. 

Kasab, who was an illiterate boy from a poor family, could not believe he was being offered marriage with such beautiful girls and immediately chose one. 

Soon after, the handlers arranged for a telephonic conversation between the girl of his choice and Kasab.

During the conversation, the girl on the other side kept encouraging Kasab for the mission that he was going to carry out for the sake of their religion and how she was lucky to have been chosen to marry him once he returned from his mission. 

Also read— 2008 Mumbai attacks: 10 years on, city moves on but scars remain

The officer said it seemed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) handlers added the marriage plan to keep the terrorists motivated for carrying out the attack.

During his interrogation, Kasab said he and the other terrorists were convinced by their handlers that they would return safely to Pakistan after carrying out their mission and how people have been placed in Mumbai to help them do this. 

However, according to the officer, Kasab admitted that despite requests, the handlers never allowed the terrorists to meet the women before they carried out their mission and kept promising that they would be getting married to them once they returned. 

The attacks that were carried out at various landmarks of Mumbai, including the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Oberoi Trident, Taj Palace and Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital and Nariman House, led to 164 people being killed and 308 being injured. India had to mobilise the elite National Security Guard (NSG) commandos in the end to eliminate the terrorists.

Read Exclusive COVID-19 Coronavirus News updates, at MyNation.

click me!