Mumbai police gifted Pakistan ammunition

Mumbai police on Friday gifted Pakistan ammunition to blame the November 26 terror attacks on Indian groups by first saying they wanted to check if the Indian Mujahideen had links with the 10 gunmen and then backing off.

“The demand was erroneously mentioned in the remand application,” joint commissioner (crime) Rakesh Maria said tonight, possibly realising that Pakistan could seize on this to buttress its claim that Indians were behind the Mumbai attacks.

India holds that all the 10 gunmen were Pakistanis trained by the Lashkar, a group nurtured by the ISI, which plotted the Mumbai attacks. Delhi has been pressing Pakistan to hand over the plotters and the trainers.

But earlier in the day, the Mumbai crime branch told a court it wanted to verify if 20 alleged Indian Mujahideen members, in custody for blasts in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore and Varanasi, had ties with the gunmen.

In a remand application filed in court, crime branch officer Ashok Duraphe said a TV channel had aired a phone conversation with gunmen in the Taj hotel during the attacks, in which they were heard asking for the release of Indian Mujahideen members.

“They demanded to set free Indian Mujahideen operatives arrested in connection with the Delhi, Ahmedabad and Surat blasts,” the application said. “Taking into consideration their demand, the possibility of their link to the said recent incidents cannot be ruled out and inquiries to that effect are to be made.”

Six of the 20 accused were produced before the court. The judge extended their judicial custody till January 16.

In the evening, Maria scrambled to control the damage and ended up drawing more attention to the bungle. “We will file a corrigendum in court tomorrow. We will also conduct an internal inquiry,” he said, and stressed there was no link between the Indian Mujahideen and the gunmen.