The message, it was later discovered, originated in Lahore. Investigators have said the e-mail was produced using Urdu-language voice-recognition software to “anonymatise” regional spellings and accents so police would be unable to identify their ethnic or geographic origins.

When the terrorists communicated with their leaders, they used satellite telephones and called voice-over-Internet-protocol phone numbers, making them harder to trace.

Then, once on the scene, they snatched cellphones from hostages and used those to stay in contact with one another.

The lone captured terrorist, Ajmal Ameer Kasab, told police he was shown video footage of the targets and the satellite images before the attacks, said Deven Bharti, a Deputy Commissioner in the Crime Branch of the Mumbai police.

Mumbai police chief Hassan Gafoor, offering the first official details of how the siege was conducted, said at a news conference on Tuesday: “Technology is advancing every day. We try to keep pace with it.”