At least four months before the Lashkar-e-Toiba launched the attack on Mumbai and killed 165 people during 26/11, a Central intelligence agency had tipped off the Mumbai Police about what the agency thought was a vague terror threat that went by the codename of “Leoport.”

This is the latest revelation in a series of intelligence tip-offs about the attacks on Mumbai that Central and state security agencies claim were circulated in the weeks and months before but were still unable to prevent the attack that virtually held India’s financial capital to ransom.

The “Leoport” alert came as an oral alert sometime in June-July and it was circulated to the Mumbai Police for action, sources told The Indian Express.

While the Central agency was unable to make much of “Leoport”, the Mumbai Police interpreted it as a possible reference to Café Leopold in Colaba — which eventually became the first target of Lashkar gunmen who came by sea on November 26.

“The Central agency was not sure if Leoport was a building or a hotel or a port or the name of an area as it was not familiar with Mumbai,” one top officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “But it was not difficult for the Mumbai Police.”

The alert prompted meetings between the state’s Anti-Terrorism Squad and the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the area and led to a security review in and around Leo’s, as the south Mumbai watering hole, popular with locals as well as foreigners, is commonly referred to.

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