More than 35 hours after the terrorists struck, there was a lull in Mumbai on Friday as National Security Guard commandos and security personnel closed in on Nariman House for a final assault and most of the residents chose to stay indoors.
Safdar Nagori, the general secretary of the proscribed outfit Student's Islamic Movement of India, was in Mumbai on July 11, 2006, when a series of explosions in suburban trains claimed 187 lives and injured thousands. Nagori is said to be acquainted with serial train blasts case accused and SIMI's Maharashtra unit general secretary Ehtesham Siddiqui. However, investigators have not been able to establish any link between Nagori and the serial blasts.
The witness, who worked at a hotel in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, had in his statement to the Anti-Terrorism Squad claimed that he had booked rooms for the accused in the case.
The navy, police, the anti-terror squad and the army are involved in a massive search operation. Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports
Shukla, incidentally, was accused of tapping phones of some political leaders while she was chief of the state intelligence department in Maharashtra.
Arvind alias Guddan Ramvilas Trivedi, 46, an aide of Dubey, was allegedly involved in the killing of eight policemen during a raid on the slain gangster's house in Kanpur district.
The agency also recovered an electronic circuit used in making explosives from the rented flat of the terror suspects in Pune's Kondhwa area along with 500 GB data from the devices, he said.
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad ruled out the involvement of a suicide bomber in Wednesday's three blasts in the city and said a probable suspect's sketch would be prepared by Saturday night.
The Mumbai anti-terrorist squad has nabbed two persons, who were plotting a terror strike on Oil and Natural Gas Corporation installations in the city.
'The caller is a truck driver from Marathwada region of Maharashtra. We have learnt that he has a habit of drinking. He has been detained along with one more person and the process to register an offence is currently on,' Mumbai police said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Vinod Bhatt was found dead in between Matunga and Dadar railway stations.
Refuting allegations by their former boss that they dithered from "responding to the situation" during 26/11, some police officers said on Friday that they did not understand what prompted former Mumbai police commissioner Hassan Gafoor to make such remarks.
Asian Cricket Council chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the PCB chief, walked away with the Asia Cup trophy after India refused to take the silverware from his hands.
The NIA is already probing the case related to the recovery of a Scorpio SUV, parked near Ambani's residence 'Antilia', with gelatin sticks and has arrested an assistant police inspector, Sachin Waze.
The Union home ministry on Tuesday acknowledged there was a lack of coordination between the Delhi police and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in the probe into the July 13, 2011 serial blasts in Mumbai but downplayed the rift between them.
Desperately looking for a breakthrough in the city's triple blasts case, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad has extensively questioned an alleged Indian Mujahideen operative, who was arrested in a counterfeit currency case, with regards to the July 13 explosions.
The terrorists wanted to target Fateh, a Canadian national who often visits India, to create a sensation across the world.
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, probing the July 13 serial blasts, is taking the assistance of a foreign firm to enhance quality of the CCTV footages recorded at the three locations, a senior police official said.
Almost a year after three bomb blasts shook the city killing 27 people and injuring many others, the Anti-Terrorism Squad filed a 4,000-page charge sheet in a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court against four accused in the case. The four accused -- Naquee Ahmed, Nadeem Shaikh, Kanwar Pathrija and Haroon Naik -- are facing trial under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, Indian Penal Code and other laws.
The hotelier from Panchmarhi, during his deposition in the court of Special NIA Judge PR Sitre, denied making any statement to the probe agencies, said special public prosecutor Avinash Rasal.
The ATS official was cross-examined by Thakur's lawyer during the day's proceedings.
Retired Assistant Police Commissioner Samsher Khan Pathan has claimed former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh "destroyed" a mobile phone seized from the 26/11 terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Kasab.
The 13/7 Mumbai blasts were a wake up call to India's security agencies. The fact that these blasts are today half-a-year old, and security agencies have not found a single clue, is a major cause of concern. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
More than 20 persons have so far been arrested in connection with the incident which took place in Malvani area of Malad on March 30.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad on Wednesday claimed that terror suspect Jaan Mohammad Sheikh, arrested along with five others by the Delhi police, had links with the 'D-Company' about 20 years back.
'Why is the Congress not tendering an unconditional apology to the citizens of India?'
Emotions ran high during the ongoing trial of the Mumbai terror attacks case in the Special Court in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail on Friday. Arun Jadhav, the sole survivor of the Toyota Qualis Jeep carrying three of Mumbai's top policemen -- Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar on the day of the terror attack-- broke down while deposing before the court.
The witness deposed before the special National Investigation Agency court on Tuesday.
On September 29, 2008, a bomb explosion at 9:35pm opposite Shakil Goods Transport Company situated between Anjuman Chowk and Bhiku Chowk in Malegaon killed six persons and injured 101.
Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh told news channels that the vehicle, a Scorpio van, was found some distance away from the multi-storey residence of Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries.
The Maharashtra ATS's supplementary chargesheet against arrested LeT operative Abu Jundal brings out some of his chilling confessions over the dastardly 26/11 terror attacks, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Mumbai on Wednesday issued a bailable warrant against an officer of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for not appearing before it in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
The joint statement was issued by retired DGPs Julio Ribeiro, Prakash Singh, P K Hormis Tharakan, Kamal Kumar, Jacob Punnoose, Sanjeev Dayal, Jayanto Choudhury and N Ramachandran.
Thakur, seated in the witness box, got visibly emotional at one point and the proceedings were halted for ten minutes.
Among those who remembered the slain bravehearts, who fell to bullets of Pakistani terrorists while repulsing the deadly attack on this day 11 years ago, were their kin, politicians, government officials, sports persons and common citizens.
Rich tributes were on Saturday paid to the 26/11 martyrs on the third anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks by Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and a host of other leaders.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday took an accused arrested in the Mansukh Hiran murder case to the creek where his body was found, and also detained a person from Gujarat who had provided them SIM cards, officials said.
Faisal Sheikh, Tanvir Ahmed, Kamal Ansari and Ehtesham Siddiqui were booked under MCOCA
'Their sacrifice will never be erased from the memory of time and history'
Even as the Maharashtra government claims it is implementing in phases the Ram Pradhan committee report, which examined the government's response to the 26/11 terror attacks, gaping holes still exist in the security apparatus.
