Mumbai four years since the 26/11 attacks

 The tiers of security were virtually non-existent when Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and nine other Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists hijacked MV Kuber to carry out the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in 2008.

However, four years later, security around Mumbai has transformed, said senior police officials. A 24x7 all-weather coastal surveillance project - an integrated network of radars, day and night electro-optical equipment, Automated Identification System (AIS) and meteorological equipment monitored by the Indian Coast Guards -now ensures visuals of even a human body within 20 nautical miles off the coast. The World War II weapons such as the .303 rifle is now a weapon of the past. Today, the Mumbai police is a more well- armed unit.

The force is now equipped with M 4 Colt 5.56 Carbines, Heckler and Koch MP 5's, Brugger and Thomet MP 9's, Smith and Wesson MP 9mm pistol and M-82 Special Applications Rifle. Apart from the bulletproof vehicles it procured post 26/11, the Mumbai police also floated tenders to procure bulletproof tyres and aerial reconnaissance vehicle, added officials.

Rakesh Maria, additional director general, Anti-Terrorism Squad said, "We were at a disadvantage when the 26/11 terror attackhappened. However, today we are prepared for the worst possible scenario."

While the realisation of a National Security Guard (NSG) hub in Mumbai has given the city a near three-tier security arrangement, the state's own commando force - Force 1- has been propped up to ensure it has adequate skill and fire power to deal as the first line of force in times of contingency.

The Indian coast guard too has augmented its force levels. Apart from opening coast guard stations at Dahanu, Ratnagiri and Murud-Janjira, it has planned to operate 42 coast guard stations across the country's 7500 kilometre-long coastline.

"We had 22 coast guard stations across the country in 2008; 10 more stations have now been added and we plan to add 10 more by the end of next year," said a coast guard official requesting anonymity.

The force plans to have 120 vessels and wants to operate 60 aircrafts by 2013. SPS Basra, inspector general, coast guard (Western region) said: "We have planned a step-by-step progression to ensure the coastline is safe."

Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times.

Ajmal Kasab hanged at Pune's Yerawada Jail

Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, was hanged at Pune's Yerawada Jail Wednesday morning, Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil said.

"All the legal procedures in the 26/11 terror attacks case were completed. He was sentenced by the trial court, which was upheld by the Bombay High Court, Supreme Court, and his mercy plea was rejected by the president. Accordingly, Kasab has been hanged this morning at 7.30 a.m. in Yerawada Central Jail," Patil told mediapersons.

Kasab's mercy petition was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee Tuesday night. Shortly thereafter, in the dead of the night, Kasab was shifted amid top secrecy and tight security to Pune's high-security Yerawada jail.

Kasab executed secretly in Pune's Yerwada jail Ajmal Kasab, who was kept at the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, has been hanged in the high-security Yerwada Jail in Pune.

This morning, at 7.30 a.m., he was hanged in the jail premises after which a team of doctors declared him dead.

"The punishment to Kasab is a true tribute to the victims and martyrs of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks," Patil said.

It is not known where Kasab's last rites shall be conducted.

"Yes, Kasab has been hanged this (Wednesday) morning at 7.30 a.m. in Yerawada Central Jail," Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, who led the 26/11 terror attacks case, said.

In January 2010, nine of Kasab's associates, who had sneaked into Mumbai on the night of Nov 26, 2008, to unleash three days of terror, were quietly buried at an undisclosed location near Mumbai.

Kasab's end came just five days before the fourth anniversary of the brutal terror attacks that killed 166 lives and injured 300.