Bang! People cut terror calls on hearing Arabic

13 July,2009 08:00 AM IST |   |  Ketan Ranga

Almost everyone who received calls from conspirators before the 26/11 attacks disconnected them, thinking it was a wrong number


Almost everyone who received calls from conspirators before the u00a026/11 attacks disconnected them, thinking it was a wrong number

A doctor who received a call on his mobile from an unidentified number in November last year disconnected the line instantly because he could not decipher what the caller was saying.

The caller uttered something in Arabic that was beyond his comprehension.

It is only now when the police called the doctor for inquiry that he realised that the call was from an accomplice of the terrorists, who attacked Mumbai last year.
u00a0

TERROR CALLing: The terrorists held the Taj Mahal Hotel hostage for 60 hours during 26/11. Prior to the strikes, accomplices of terrorists made 91 calls to professionals in Mumbai, Pune, Nasik and Delhi.

A report submitted by theu00a0 FBI to the Crime Branch gave details about 91 such calls made before the terror attacks to professionals in Mumbai, Pune, Nasik and Delhi.


Almost everyone said the conversation did not last long because either the caller spoke in Arabic or they thought it was a wrong number.
u00a0
Rakesh Maria, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), said, "None of the people knew the identity of the callers. Only after the investigations, they realised the calls were from terrorists."

Pakistan-based handlers made these calls using the Voice Info Protocol (VoIP) service from the US company Call Phonex to ensure there are no problems communicating with terrorists on the day of the terror strikes.
u00a0
The company was paid through Western Union in Pakistan.

Hello, Who's That?

The first call was made to a Delhi landline number on November 23. The conversation lasted for a minute-and-a-half.

On the same day, three calls were made to a Mumbai number. The caller spoke for nearly two minutes.
u00a0
The next day, 15 calls were made to 11 mobile phones in less than an hour.
"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
Mumbai terror attack 26/11 attacks November Taj Mahal Hotel terrorists Rakesh Maria