Kasab video out: ‘From Lashkar… father said we will have money’

During his questioning,Kasab almost begins to sob. The Lashkar emerges as a ruthless organisation,hiring and training impoverished Pakistani youth for its war against India. Kasab says his father told him “These people make loads of money and so will you. You don’t have to do anything difficult. We will have money. We won’t be poor any more.” His brother and sisters,he says,will be able to get married. And he “will go to jannat (heaven)”.

This video recording will not be accepted as evidence in court because Kasab has since retracted his statements,saying he made this confession under duress.

Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria today said they would check how the footage was obtained by the channel. ACP Tanaji Ghadge,who questioned Kasab at Nair Hospital shortly after he was nabbed,said: “I do not know how this footage was leaked to the media. I had passed on the footage to my superiors.”

Excerpts from the 2.34 minute-clip:

Police: Kitne logon ko maara (How many did you kill)?

Kasab: Pata nahin… bas aise chalate rahe,chalate rahe (Don’t know,simply kept firing)

Police: Kis ko maarne ke liye bataya tha (Who were you told to kill)?

Kasab: Logon ko (People)

Police: Aisa kitna operation kiya tum logon ne? Iske pehle kidhar kidhar kiya? (How many such operations did you carry out earlier? Where all?)

Kasab: Kidhar bhi nahin kiya… pehle kidhar bhi nahin kiya. Bolta hai bas karo aur mar jao… ek baari. Yahi bataya ki ye kaam tum logon ko karna hai. (Had never done any such operation. Was told to do it once and die. Was told we had to do this job)…

Police: Tumhara sangathan ka naam kya hai? Tumhara gang ka naam kya hai,team ka naam? (What’s the name of your organisation?)

Kasab: Haan… Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Police: Aaj ka kaam karne ke baad kidhar jaane waale thaey tum log (Where were you headed after this)?

Kasab: Marne waaley thaey (We were going to die)

Police: Kaise (How)?

Kasab: Woh bataya tha jannat mein jaoge (He told us we would go to heaven).

The documentary captures the nightmare at CST station,Cama Hospital,Leopold Cafe and focuses on the Trident hotel. Nine staff and three guests have been killed in the lobby.

“We have rounded up 15 people” a terrorist informs his handlers in Pakistan,“and moved them to the top of the hotel.” Later,ten of these were gunned on a staircase. As the terrorists were about to shoot a man from Turkey,his wife screamed: He is your brother,a Muslim. They separated three women,asked them to face the wall and shot them in their heads. The man from Turkey was angry,“I shouted kill me.” “No kill,you brother,” they replied. The man and his wife were allowed to go down the stairs full of bodies. “I never knew,blood was so slippery,” he says.

In Pakistan,the Lashkar commanders are in an almost celebratory mood. They ask “kee haal hai jee”. The terrorists in the Taj are struck by its grandeur and opulence. “There are computers with 30-inch screens,” they inform their handler. “Haven’t you set them on fire?” questions the boss.

The Nariman House horror also unfolds. The plan to take Rabbi Holtzberg and his wife Rivka hostage and secure the release of Kasab has failed. New instructions are passed from Pakistan: “Just shoot them now. Jaan chhuddao,don’t wait any longer,Insha Allah,Insha Allah. Sit them up. Shoot them in the back of head.”

The terrorist was obviously hesitating. The voice from Pakistan says,“Karen Bismillah.” Two loud shots are heard. “Did you kill them”,asks the voice from Pakistan. “Done,” replies the man on the spot. And then,filmed through a window,baby Moshe is seen wandering in the room where his parents lie dead.

Dan Reed’s film ends with a chilling warning. One of the Lashkar commanders is heard telling the terrorists in the Taj: “Tell them this is only the trailer… just wait till you see the rest of the film.”