25 February,2009 02:11 PM IST | | J Dey
The chargesheet filed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks is silent about the involvement of some local contacts in Mumbai. Although it is being suspected that some locals provided the terrorists with photographic details about the targets.
The Crime Branch investigations is virtually nil in this area.
Pakistani authorities allege that M V Kuber was refueled midway on it voyage to Mumbai with 10 terrorists on board.
The chargesheet does not mention anything about the refueling or any forensic evidence, like how many litre of bunker fuel was loaded and which was the last port of call. The vessel was carrying more than 2,000 litre and some quantity of fuel was still left in the tank when Coast Guard officials pounded the ship off Mumbai coast.
Pakistani ISI's role is also unclear in the chargesheet. The crime branch is only armed with the confessions of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Sheikh indicating they had carried out a recce of some areas in Mumbai prior to the attacks. There is only mention of one Col Kayani.
Insiders also rule out the possibility that Col Kayani named by the duo is the present Chief of Army Staff in Pakistan. This was ascertained after showing the two suspects the photo of the present army chief in Pakistan.
The other seven named in the chargesheet are members of Lashkar-e-Toiba, who could indirectly linked to the ISI observers pointed out.