New Delhi - Ten terrorists carried out the attacks on India's financial hub Mumbai last week, all of them arriving by boat from Pakistan's port city of Karachi, Mumbai's police chief Hasan Gafoor said Tuesday at a press briefing. Gafoor said the one terrorist captured by the police had admitted he came from Punjab province of Pakistan.
Nine of the terrorists were killed during the stand-off with security forces that began late Wednesday and ended Saturday.
"Investigations are at an advanced stage. I would not like to reveal further details," Gafoor said at the televised briefing. He said the terrorists initially traveled 12 nautical miles with their first boat, before hijacking an Indian fishing trawler. Once they were near the Mumbai coast, they transferred to an inflatable dinghy to land at Cuffe Parade, near the Gateway of India.
They then divided into five groups of two men each and took five taxis to their destinations.
The terrorists targeted, among other places, two luxury hotels - the Taj and the Oberoi-Trident - Mumbai's main railway station, a cafe popular with foreigners, a hospital and a Jewish centre.
They fired indiscriminately and lobbed grenades killing 188 people, including 30 foreigners. More than 300 were injured.
Gafoor said they also planted five bombs - three in taxis, one inside the Oberoi and one outside the Taj.
Describing the attacks as a suicide mission, Gafoor said: "Their intention was to create a sensation ... to create havoc ... to kill as many people as possible."
The men were trained in Pakistan by former military men for a year and a half, the police chief said, again adding that he would not like to give locations or details at this stage in the investigation.
Gafoor sad there was, as yet, no evidence of local support, though some people were being questioned. He also said there was so far no evidence that the terrorists were using drugs, as has been reported by some media.
The police found credit cards and Indian currency ranging from 2000 to 4500 rupees (40 to 90 dollars) on each of the terrorists.
The police chief also said that his department had no specific intelligence indicating the possibility of the attacks.
A team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation was in Mumbai. "We are sharing information with them and security agencies all over the world," the police cief said.
