The first conference call between Shemtov, Viswanath and Imran took place at 10.30 am and the first thing Viswanath asked the Lashkar man was if the hostages were safe. "Humne unko thappad bhi nahin mara hai," (We haven't even slapped them) was the reply. There were a total of five such calls with the Chabad representatives seeking to find out how the hostages were doing, if they needed food and generally sought to keep the Lashkar men engaged in a conversation.

But the most important conversation took place rather early in the day. Ajmal Amir Kasab, one of the 10 attackers, had been captured the previous night by Mumbai Police and by the morning, word about it was already out and even Imran and Nasir knew about it although they didn't know who among their mates it was. "Hum Bharat sarkar se baat karna chahate hain. Hamara ek banda aapke kabze mein hai, hamare saamne use pesh kar do (We want to speak to the Indian government, one of our men is in your custody, bring him before us)," they told Viswanath.

The Chabad representatives in Washington got in touch with the Indian embassy in the US capital and that set the wheels of the bureaucracy in motion with calls going through to New Delhi and then to Mumbai, before Mumbai Police Assistant Commissioner Isaq Bagwan, who could speak English and Hindi, was nudged to try and join the next conference call. His task: to talk to Imran and Nasir and see if they were "willing to surrender".

... contd.