‘Nariman House terrorist wanted Kasab to be freed’

“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).” This was what one of the terrorists inside Nariman House — he said his name was Imran and spoke in Urdu — told Professor P V Viswanath of Pace University, New York, who had agreed to be the interpreter as Rabbi Levi Shemtov, a Chabad emissary in Washington, opened a phone line to ensure the safety of the Jews taken hostage and find out if the terrorists had any demands.

Though the terrorist did not name the man they wanted back, it was clear that they were aware Ajmal Amir Kasab had been taken alive by the Mumbai police. This call was on November 27 morning by which time word was out that one of the terrorists had been captured.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Viswanath said: “We think he was asking for the release of Ajmal Amir Kasab who was caught alive by the police. After several attempts, we managed to get in touch with one of the police officers on location and get him into the conference call. But due to technical reasons, we could not contact Imran.” He said when he asked if the hostages were safe and whether they needed food, Imran said: “Hum yahaan khana khaane nahin aaye hain (We haven’t come here to eat).”

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit:
http://epaper.indianexpress.com/IE/IEH/2008/12/06/index.shtml