'I don't know. The organisation is being run for a very long time. They said the work first started from Afghanistan.'

'Did you ever ask Zaki if he ever had done jihad himself?

'Yes. He said he had done it... in Afghanistan.'

'Didn't you feel for the innocent people you fired at?'

'To become a big man you have to do such things.'

'How did you reach Mumbai?'

'In a launch. In an Indian launch. There were four-five fishermen in the launch. We abducted them near the border of Indian and Pakistani waters. After that when we were just some miles off from the Mumbai coast we got into a speedboat and sailed towards Mumbai and got off near a fishermen colony.'

'From where did you start in Pakistan?'

'In Azizabad. There is a place called Kasmabaad. It's close to the sea. Kasmabaad is a big place. It's a jungle. Well, not exactly a jungle, since there are shanties and shacks and villagers. What's that place called? Yes, Buharo. There's a place called Buharo. It's a jungle. A road goes to that place. We all sat in a jeep with black, tinted glasses and went to the sea.'

'When was it decided to attack Mumbai?'

'A month back. Ismail and I were called. We were shown the target. A video CD was shown to us. We were shown the VT station. And the road that goes towards the station, from the side of Azad Maidan. We were supposed to go on that road to Taj Mahal hotel. We were told Azad Maidan would come. We were told about the work we had to do.'

'What work?'

'Of VTS,' said Kasab. (VTS implying VT station.)

'VTS or ATS?' Ghadge wanted to know if the terrorists had a specific plan to target the Anti-Terrorism Squad office or its officers.

'The place where there is a station,' explains Kasab.

'What kind of office was there in the CD?' Ghadge probing further into the possibility of ATS office being one of the targets.

'There was no office. There was a man. You can't see his face. He was walking around the station and a voice in the background was narrating, explaining the layout of the station.'

'Who were you supposed to kill?'

'Ordinary people. We were meant to kill anyone who would come in sight. Ismail and I had the same target.'

'How did you get hold of the police vehicle?'

'We wanted to escape. We came down from the terrace of the hospital. We were shuffling along, hiding along the way. We would walk some distance, again hide, like that. Then this police vehicle came. They fired at us. I fell down, I suffered bullet injuries on both my hands. Ismail did his job. He fired at the policemen in the vehicle. Then he hauled me up into the vehicle and he drove.'

'How did you get the Skoda car?'

'We took it from there, don't know the name of the place. Our vehicle got punctured. Then we saw this Skoda car. We took the vehicle at gunpoint.'

'Did Zaki chacha come with you on the ship?'

'Chacha came only up to Karachi.'

'What's the name of your sangathan (group or organisation)?'

'What?' Kasab doesn't understand the Hindi word.

'What's the name of your sangathan? Gang?'

'Lashkar-e-Tayiba,' murmurs Kasab, the word 'gang' striking home the question.

'And what is Deccan Mujahideen?'

'I don't know.'

'How many weapons did you have?'

'We had one AK-47, one pistol, eight hand grenades and six magazines.'

'What was your plan?'

'To kill people. And then take a stronghold. Take people hostage. And then make demands.' The use of the word, stronghold, takes Ghadge by surprise.

'Make demands to whom?'

'To the government.'

'What demands?'

'Woh peeche se batane waale the. (They were supposed to inform us later on).'

'How would they have informed you?'

'On the phone.'

'How much money did you give the cabbie who drove you to the VT station?'

'100 or 1,000. Don't remember,' says Kasab.

'How much money in all did you have?'

'5,400 rupees each we had on us.’