Ajmal Kasab

Muhammad Ajmal Amir Kasab (13 July 1987 – 21 November 2012) was a Pakistani terrorist and a member of the Islamist militant organization Lashkar-e-Taiba through which he took part in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks in Maharashtra, India. Kasab, alongside fellow Lashkar-e-Taiba recruit Ismail Khan, killed 72 people during the attacks, most of them at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Kasab was the only attacker who was apprehended alive by the police.

Kasab was born in Faridkot, Pakistan and left his home in 2005, engaging in petty crime and armed robbery with a friend. In late 2007, he and his friend encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets, and were persuaded to join.

On 3 May 2010, Kasab was found guilty of 80 offences, including murder, waging war against India, possessing explosives, and other charges. On 6 May 2010, he was sentenced to death on four counts and to life imprisonment on five counts. Kasab's death sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court on 21 February 2011. The verdict was upheld by the Supreme Court of India on 29 August 2012. Kasab was executed by hanging on 21 November 2012 at 7:30 a.m. local time, and subsequently buried within the precincts of Yerwada Central Jail in Pune. He was the first person to be executed in India since 2004, and as of 2025, is the only one among those involved in the Mumbai terrorist attack.

Early life

Kasab was born in Faridkot village in the Okara District, Pakistan, to Noor Elahi and Muhammad Amir of the Qassab community. His father ran a snack cart while his elder brother, Afzal, worked as a labourer in Lahore. His elder sister, Rukaiyya Husain, was married and lived in the village. A younger sister, Suraiyya, and brother, Munir, lived in Faridkot with their parents.

Kasab briefly joined his brother in Lahore and then returned to Faridkot. He left home after a fight with his father in 2005. He had asked for new clothes on Eid al-Fitr, but his father could not provide them, which made him angry. He engaged in petty crime with his friend Muzaffar Lal Khan, eventually moving on to armed robbery. On 21 December 2007, Eid al-Adha, they were in Rawalpindi trying to buy weapons when they encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets. They decided to sign up for training with the group, ending up at their base camp, Markaz Taiba.

An interrogator and deputy commissioner of the Mumbai Police stated that Kasab spoke rough Hindi and almost no English. He said his father in effect sold him to Lashkar-e-Taiba so that he could use the money they gave him to support the family. His father denied it. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, reportedly offered to pay his family for his participation in the attacks. Another report said the 23-year-old was recruited from his home, in part, based on a pledge by recruiters to pay to his family if he became a martyr. Other sources put the reward at .

Villagers in Okara claimed on camera that he was at their village six months before the attacks in Mumbai. They said that he asked his mother to bless him as he was going for jihad and claimed that he demonstrated his wrestling skills to a few village boys that day.

Training

Ajmal Kasab was among a group of 24 men who received training in marine warfare at a remote camp in the mountainous areas of Muzaffarabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan. Part of the training was reported to have taken place on the Mangla Dam reservoir.

Involvement in 2008 Mumbai attacks

Kasab was seen on CCTV during his attacks at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus along with another recruit, Ismail Khan. Kasab reportedly told the police that they wanted to replicate the Islamabad Marriott hotel attack, and reduce the Taj Hotel to rubble, replicating the 9/11 attacks in India.

On the evening of 26 November 2008, after entering Mumbai via sea route, Kasab and his accomplice Ismail Khan, split up from the group of 10 terrorists and hired a taxi to head to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus or CST (formerly Victoria Terminus), one of Mumbai's busiest railway stations, during which they planted a time bomb in backseat. Armed with grenades and AK-47 assault rifles, Kasab and Khan attacked the CST railway station with grenades and mass shootouts, killing several commuters and long distance travelers. Hearing the shots, a few police officers posted at the railway station, including Senior Inspector Shashank Shinde, tried to fight them with their service weapons but were also killed by Kasab and Khan. The duo later headed towards Cama Hospital with intent to kill patients, but the hospital staff locked all of the patient wards. A police team, consisting of Mumbai Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte, along with other subordinates, were outside the hospital waiting to counter-attack them, armed with pistols, revolvers, and World War 2 era Lee–Enfield self loading rifles. The duo then escaped the hospital and went into hiding, while Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar and 4 constables began to move to the other side of the hospital in a Toyota Qualis SUV, with Kamte at the wheel. While driving there, Kamte saw Kasab and fired at him, wounding his arm, but Khan and Kasab fired a volley of bullets, killing Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar, and 2 constables. After killing them in the gun battle and taking two constables' hostage in the Qualis, Kasab and Khan drove towards the Metro Cinema, where they fired at civilians, leaving many injured. Kasab joked about the bullet resistant vests worn by the police and killed one constable, Yogesh Patil, when his mobile phone rang. They then drove to Vidhan Bhavan where they fired more shots. The police vehicle they were in burst a rear tire due to bullets they fired, so they stole a silver Škoda Laura and drove towards Girgaum Chowpatty beach. At that point, the surviving but severely wounded constable, Arun Jadhav, sent a message on radio that Kasab and Khan carjacked and stole the Škoda, and were heading towards Chowpatty.

The D B Marg police station had received a message from police control room at about , that two heavily armed men had gunned down commuters at CST. 15 policemen from D B Marg were sent to Chowpatty to set up a double barricade roadblock on Marine Drive. The Škoda reached Chowpatty and halted 40 to 50 feet from the barricade. The police officers at the roadblock ordered Khan and Kasab to exit and surrender, but instead they turned on the windshield wipers and high-beam headlights to prevent any visuals. Khan, who was on the driver's seat, reversed slightly and attempted a U-turn to escape, but failed, as the car stopped close to the median, which obstructed them. A shootout ensued moment later, and Khan was killed after being shot in the head, while Kasab lay motionless playing dead. Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble, armed only with a lathi (bamboo stick), charged the vehicle, being shot five times after he opened the passenger door, where Kasab was seated. Omble held onto Kasab's weapon, enabling Omble's colleagues to capture Kasab alive. A former Naik(equivalent of Corporal) in the Indian Army, Omble died from the bullet wounds on the spot. A mob of officers gathered and attacked Kasab, which was captured on video.

Initially, Kasab pretended to be dead, and was being transported to the Nair Hospital when a police officer discovered Kasab was breathing. Seeing the mutilated body of his partner and slain terrorist Khan, Kasab begged doctors to put him on saline, saying "I do not want to die". The doctors who treated Kasab said he had no bullet wounds.

Kasab told police he was trained to "kill to the last breath". Later, after interrogation in the hospital by the police, he said: "Now, I do not want to live", requesting the interrogators kill him for the safety of his family in Pakistan, who could be killed or tortured for his surrender to Indian police. ( Fidayeen suicide squad terrorists were instructed not to be captured and interrogated, use aliases instead of their real names, and hide their nationality.) He is also quoted as saying "I have done right, I have no regrets". Reports also surfaced that the group planned to escape safely after the attack.

Kasab told interrogators that all through the operation, the Lashkar headquarters from Karachi, Pakistan, remained in touch with the group, calling their phones through a voice-over-Internet service. Investigators succeeded in reconstructing the group's journey through the Garmin GPS that was found on Kasab. An email sent from a group calling itself the Deccan Mujahideen claiming responsibility was traced to a Russian proxy, which was then traced back to Lahore with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Nationality

Police announced Kasab was a Pakistani national based on his confession and other evidence. Several reporters visited Kasab's village and verified the facts provided by him. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif confirmed that Kasab was from Faridkot village in Pakistan, and criticised President Asif Ali Zardari for cordoning off the village and not allowing his parents to meet anyone.

Journalist Saeed Shah travelled to Kasab's village and produced national identity card numbers of his parents. His parents left town on the night of 3 December 2008. Mumbai Joint Police Commissioner of Crime Rakesh Maria said Kasab was from the Faridkot village in the Okara District

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