‘Abu Jundal’s name has never come up before’

Police are baffled at Kasab’s revelation in court on Monday that an Indian, Abu Jundal, was involved in November 26 terror attacks. 

“We did not come across Abu Jundal’s name during investigations. Kasab never told us about him during the interrogations,” Rakesh Maria, the joint commissioner of police (crime), said.

Police were investigating Jundal’s involvement. Only after investigations were over, Maria said, police would decide whether to name him as an accused in the case.
According to media reports, Abu Jundal is believed to be associated with the top founding members of Indian Mujahideen (IM). “But his name never surfaced while interrogating the arrested IM members,” an officer said.

Kasab told the court on Monday that Jundal taught them Hindi. Police, however, rubbished it. An officer said talking in Hindi was irrelevant in the case. “Kasab and his associates knew Urdu and Punjabi. What was the need to get training in Hindi language?” he asked. “Also, they were assigned a specific task of reaching Mumbai through the sea and carry out an attack in the city immediately after landing. How much time did they get to use or understand Hindi?”

Another officer said learning a local language was more crucial for sleeper cell terrorists. “Such terrorists might need to communicate with several people within his residential area and workplace before he gets orders from bosses to carry out any attack,” he said. “But a fidayeen’s mission is defined. Especially in this case there was no reason for them to know Hindi.”