2008 Mumbai attacks

Bullet marks on the wall at the CSMT

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) was attacked by two gunmen, Ismail Khan and Ajmal Kasab.[60] Kasab was later caught alive by the police and identified by eyewitnesses. The attacks began around 21:30 when the two men entered the passenger hall and opened fire[61] using AK-47 rifles.[62] The attackers killed 58 people and injured 104 others,[62] their assault ending at about 22:45.[61] Security forces and emergency services arrived shortly afterwards. Announcements by a railway announcer, Vishnu Dattaram Zende, alerted passengers to leave the station and saved many lives.[63][64] The two gunmen fled the scene and fired at pedestrians and police officers in the streets, killing eight police officers. The attackers passed a police station. Knowing that they were outgunned against the heavily armed terrorists, the police officers at the station, instead of confronting the terrorists, decided to switch off the lights and secure the gates.

The attackers then headed towards Cama Hospital with intent to kill patients,[65] but the hospital staff locked all of the patient wards. A team of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad led by police chief Hemant Karkare searched the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and then left in pursuit of Kasab and Khan. Kasab and Khan opened fire on the vehicle in a lane next to the hospital, and received return fire in response. Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte and one of their officers were killed. The only survivor, Constable Arun Jadhav, was severely wounded.[66] Kasab and Khan seized the police vehicle but later abandoned it and seized a passenger car instead. They then ran into a police roadblock, which had been set up after Jadhav radioed for help.[67] A gun battle then ensued in which Khan was killed and Kasab was wounded. After a physical struggle, Kasab was arrested.[68] A police officer, Tukaram Omble, was also killed when he tried to disarm Kasab by wrestling his weapon away from him.

Bullet marks left at Leopold Cafe

The Leopold Cafe, a popular restaurant and bar on Colaba Causeway in South Mumbai, was one of the first sites to be attacked.[69] Two attackers, Shoaib alias Soheb and Nazir alias Abu Umer,[60] opened fire on the cafe on the evening of 26 November between 21:30 and 21:48, killing 10 people (including some foreigners) and injuring many more.[70]

There were two explosions in taxis caused by timer bombs. The first one occurred at 22:40 at Vile Parle, killing the driver and a passenger. The second explosion took place at Wadi Bunder between 22:20 and 22:25. Three people, including the driver of the taxi were killed, and about 15 others were injured.[23][71]

The damaged Oberoi Trident hotel

Two hotels, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and the Oberoi Trident, were among the four locations targeted. Six explosions were reported at the Taj Hotel – one in the lobby, two in the elevators, three in the restaurant – and one at the Oberoi Trident.[72][73] At the Taj, firefighters rescued 200 hostages from windows using ladders during the first night.[74]

CNN initially reported on the morning of 27 November 2008 that the hostage situation at the Taj Hotel had been resolved and quoted the police chief of Maharashtra stating that all hostages were freed;[47] however, it was learned later that day that there were still two attackers holding hostages, including foreigners, in the Taj Hotel.[75]

The first floor of the Taj Hotel was completely gutted

A number of European Parliament Committee on International Trade delegates were staying in the Taj Hotel when it was attacked,[76] but none of them were injured.[77] British Conservative Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sajjad Karim (who was in the lobby when attackers initially opened fire there) and German Social Democrat MEP Erika Mann were hiding in different parts of the building.[76] Also reported present was Spanish MEP Ignasi Guardans, who was barricaded in a hotel room.[78][79] Another British Conservative MEP, Syed Kamall, reported that he along with several other MEPs left the hotel and went to a nearby restaurant shortly before the attack.[76] Kamall also reported that Polish MEP Jan Masiel was thought to have been sleeping in his hotel room when the attacks started, but eventually left the hotel safely.[80] Kamall and Guardans reported that a Hungarian MEP's assistant was shot.[76][81] Also caught up in the shooting were the President of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, while checking in at the Oberoi Trident,[81] and Indian MP N. N. Krishnadas of Kerala and Gulam Noon while having dinner at a restaurant in the Taj Hotel.[82][83] Gautam Adani, a billionaire business tycoon of India was having dinner in Taj at 26 November night, he hid in hotel basement for night.[84]

Front view of the Nariman House a week after the attacks

Nariman House, a Chabad Lubavitch Jewish centre in Colaba known as the Mumbai Chabad House, was taken over by two attackers and several residents were held hostage.[85] Police evacuated adjacent buildings and exchanged fire with the attackers, wounding one. Local residents were told to stay inside. The attackers threw a grenade into a nearby lane, causing no casualties. NSG commandos arrived from Delhi, and a naval helicopter took an aerial survey. During the first day, 9 hostages were rescued from the first floor. The following day, the house was stormed by NSG commandos fast-roping from helicopters onto the roof, covered by snipers positioned in nearby buildings. After a long battle, one NSG commando, Sergeant Gajender Singh Bisht was killed, as were both perpetrators.[86][87] Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka Holtzberg, who was six months pregnant, were murdered with four other hostages inside the house by the attackers.[88]

According to radio transmissions picked up by Indian intelligence, the attackers "would be told by their handlers in Pakistan that the lives of Jews were worth 50 times those of non-Jews". Injuries on some of the bodies indicated that they may have been tortured.[89][90]

NSG Commandos beginning the assault on Nariman House by fast-roping onto the terrace.

During the attacks, both hotels were surrounded by Rapid Action Force personnel and Marine Commandos (MARCOS) and National Security Guards (NSG) commandos.[91][92] When reports emerged that attackers were receiving television broadcasts, feeds to the hotels were blocked.[93] Security forces stormed both hotels, and all nine attackers were killed by the morning of 29 November.[94][95] Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan of the NSG was fatally shot during the rescue of Commando Sunil Yadav, who was hit in the leg by a bullet during the rescue operations at Taj.[96][97] 32 hostages were killed at the Oberoi Trident.[98]

NSG commandos then took on the Nariman house, and a naval helicopter took an aerial survey. During the first day, 9 hostages were rescued from the first floor. The following day, the house was stormed by NSG commandos fast-roping from helicopters onto the roof, covered by snipers positioned in nearby buildings. NSG Commando Sergeant Gajender Singh Bisht, who was part of the team that fast-roped onto Nariman House, died after a long battle in which both perpetrators were also killed.[86][87] By the morning of 28 November, the NSG had secured the Jewish outreach centre at Nariman House as well as the Oberoi Trident hotel. They also incorrectly believed that the Taj Palace and Towers had been cleared of attackers, and soldiers were leading hostages and holed-up guests to safety, and removing bodies of those killed in the attacks.[99][100][101] However, later news reports indicated that there were still two or three attackers in the Taj, with explosions heard and gunfire exchanged.[101] Fires were also reported at the ground floor of the Taj with plumes of smoke arising from the first floor.[101] The final operation at the Taj Palace hotel was completed by the NSG commandos at 08:00 on 29 November, killing three attackers and resulting in the conclusion of the attacks.[102] The NSG rescued 250 people from the Oberoi, 300 from the Taj and 60 people (members of 12 different families) from Nariman House.[103] In addition, police seized a boat filled with arms and explosives anchored at Mazgaon dock off Mumbai Harbour.[104]

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani and President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attacks.[112][113] Pakistan promised to assist in the investigation and President Zardari vowed "strong action against any Pakistani elements found involved in the attack".[114]

Pakistan initially denied that Pakistanis were responsible for the attacks, blaming plotters in Bangladesh and Indian criminals,[115] a claim refuted by India,[116] and saying they needed information from India on other bombings first.[117]

Pakistani authorities finally agreed that Ajmal Kasab was a Pakistani on 7 January 2009,[29][118][119] and registered a case against three other Pakistani nationals.[120]

The Indian government supplied evidence to Pakistan and other governments, in the form of interrogations, weapons, and call records of conversations during the attacks.[121][122] In addition, Indian government officials said that the attacks were so sophisticated that they must have had official backing from Pakistani "agencies", an accusation denied by Pakistan.[27][118]

Under US and UN pressure, Pakistan arrested a few members of Jamaat ud-Dawa and briefly put its founder under house arrest, but he was found to be free a few days later.[123] A year after the attacks, Mumbai police continued to complain that Pakistani authorities were not co-operating by providing information for their investigation.[124] Meanwhile, journalists in Pakistan said security agencies were preventing them from interviewing people from Kasab's village.[125][126] The then Home Minister P. Chidambaram said the Pakistani authorities had not shared any information about American suspects David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana, but that the FBI had been more forthcoming.[127]

An Indian report, summarising intelligence gained from India's interrogation of David Headley,[128] was released in October 2010. It alleged that Pakistan's intelligence agency (ISI) had provided support for the attacks by providing funding for reconnaissance missions in Mumbai.[129] The report included Headley's claim that Lashkar-e-Taiba's chief military commander, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, had close ties to the ISI.[128] He alleged that "every big action of LeT is done in close coordination with [the] ISI."[129]

In 2018, during an interview with newspaper Dawn,[130] Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif reportedly indirectly accepted Pakistan's involvement in not preventing the Mumbai attacks.[131][132]

Police looking for attackers outside Colaba

According to investigations, the attackers travelled by sea from Karachi, Pakistan, across the Arabian Sea, hijacked the Indian fishing trawler Kuber, killed the crew of four, then forced the captain to sail to Mumbai. After murdering the captain, the attackers entered Mumbai on a rubber dinghy. The captain of Kuber, Amar Singh Solanki, had earlier been imprisoned for six months in a Pakistani jail for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters.[133] The attackers stayed and were trained by the Lashkar-e-Taiba in a safehouse at Azizabad in Karachi before boarding a small boat for Mumbai.[134]

David Headley was a member of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and between 2002 and 2009 Headley travelled extensively as part of his work for LeT. Headley received training in small arms and countersurveillance from LeT, built a network of connections for the group, and was chief scout in scoping out targets for Mumbai attack[135][136] having allegedly been given $25,000 in cash in 2006 by an ISI officer known as Major Iqbal. The officer also helped him arrange a communications system for the attack, and oversaw a model of the Taj Hotel so that gunmen could know their way inside the target, according to Headley's testimony to Indian authorities. Headley also helped ISI recruit Indian agents to monitor Indian troop levels and movements, according to a US official. At the same time, Headley was also an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, and Headley's wives warned American officials of Headley's involvement with LeT and his plotting attacks, warning specifically that the Taj Hotel may be their target.[135]

US officials believed that the Inter-Services Intelligence (I.S.I.) officers provided support to Lashkar-e-Taiba militants who carried out the attacks.[137] Disclosures made by former American intelligence contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had intercepted communications between the Lashkar boat and the LeT headquarters in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and passed the alert on to RAW on 18 November, eight days before the terrorists actually struck Mumbai.[138] In the hours after the attack, the New York City Police Department sent Brandon del Pozo, an official from their Intelligence Division, to investigate the incident in order to understand what vulnerabilities its methods posed for New York City.[139]

The arrest of Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Hamza in June 2012 provided further clarity on how the plot was hatched. According to Abu Hamza, the attacks were previously scheduled for 2006, using Indian youth for the job. However, a huge cache of AK-47's and RDX, which were to be used for the attacks, was recovered from Aurangabad in 2006, thus leading to the dismantling of the original plot. Subsequently, Abu Hamza fled to Pakistan and along with Lashkar commanders, scouted for Pakistani youth to be used for the attacks. In September 2007, 10 people were selected for the mission. In September 2008, these people tried sailing to Mumbai from Karachi, but couldn't complete their mission due to choppy waters. These men made a second attempt in November 2008, and successfully managed to execute the final attacks. David Headley's disclosures, that three Pakistani army officers were associated with the planning and execution of the attack were substantiated by Ansari's revelations during his interrogation.[140][141]

After Ansari's arrest, Pakistan's Foreign Office claimed they had received information that up to 40 Indian nationals were involved in the attacks.[142]

The attackers had planned the attack several months ahead of time and knew some areas well enough to vanish and reappear after security forces had left. Several sources have quoted Kasab telling the police that the group received help from Mumbai residents.[143][144] The attackers used at least three SIM cards purchased on the Indian side of the border with Bangladesh.[145] There were also reports of a SIM card purchased in the US state of New Jersey.[146] Police had also mentioned that Faheem Ansari, an Indian Lashkar operative who had been arrested in February 2008, had scouted the Mumbai targets for the November attacks.[147] Later, the police arrested two Indian suspects, Mikhtar Ahmad, who is from Srinagar in Kashmir, and Tausif Rehman, a resident of Kolkata. They supplied the SIM cards, one in Calcutta, and the other in New Delhi.[148]

The attackers used a satellite phone and cell phones to talk to each other as well as their handlers that were based in Pakistan. In transcripts intercepted by Indian authorities between the attackers and their handlers, the handlers provided the attackers with encouragement, tactical advice, and information gained from media coverage. The attackers used both personal cell phones and those obtained from their victims to communicate with each other and the news media. Although the attackers were encouraged to murder hostages, the attackers were in communication with the news media via cell phones to make demands in return for the release of hostages. This was believed to be done in order to further confuse Indian authorities that they were dealing with primarily a hostage situation.[149]

Type 86 Grenades made by China's state-owned Norinco were used in the attacks.[150]

There were also indications that the attackers had been taking steroids.[151] The gunman who survived said that the attackers had used Google Earth to familiarise themselves with the locations of buildings used in the attacks.[152]

There were 10 gunmen, nine of whom were subsequently shot dead and one captured by security forces.[153][154] Witnesses reported that they seemed to be in their early twenties, wore black T-shirts and jeans, and that they smiled and looked happy as they shot their victims.[155]

It was initially reported that some of the attackers were British citizens,[156][157] but the Indian government later stated that there was no evidence to confirm this.[158] Similarly, early reports of 12 gunmen[159] were also later shown to be incorrect.[121]

On 9 December, the 10 attackers were identified by Mumbai police, along with their home towns in Pakistan: Ajmal Amir Kasab from Faridkot, Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan from Dera Ismail Khan, Hafiz Arshad and Babr Imran from Multan, Javed from Okara, Shoaib from Sialkot, Nazir Ahmed and Nasir from Faisalabad, Abdul Rahman from Arifwalla, and Fahadullah from Dipalpur Taluka. Dera Ismail Khan is in the North-West Frontier Province; the rest of the towns are in Pakistani Punjab.[160]

On 6 April 2010, the Home Minister of Maharashtra State, informed the Assembly that the bodies of the nine killed Pakistani gunmen from the 2008 attack on Mumbai were buried in a secret location in January 2010. The bodies had been in the mortuary of a Mumbai hospital after Muslim clerics in the city refused to let them be buried on their grounds.[161]

Only one of the 10 attackers, Ajmal Kasab, survived the attack. He was hanged in Yerwada jail in 2012.[162] The other nine attackers killed during the onslaught were Hafiz Arshad alias Abdul Rehman Bada, Abdul Rahman Chhota, Javed alias Abu Ali, Fahadullah alias Abu Fahad, Ismail Khan alias Abu Ismail, Babar Imran alias Abu Akasha, Nasir alias Abu Umar, Nazir alias Abu Umer and Shoaib alias Abu Soheb.

Ajmal Kasab was the only attacker arrested alive by police. At first, he deposed to police inspector Ramesh Mahale that he had come to India "to see Amitabh Bachchan's bungalow", and that he was apprehended by the Mumbai Police outside the bungalow.[55][163] Much of the information about the attackers' preparation, travel, and movements comes from his subsequent confessions to the Mumbai police.[164]

On 12 February 2009, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik said that Pakistani national Javed Iqbal, who acquired VoIP phones in Spain for the Mumbai attackers, and Hamad Ameen Sadiq, who had facilitated money transfer for the attack, had been arrested.[120] Two other men known as Khan and Riaz, but whose full names were not given, were also arrested.[7] Two Pakistanis were arrested in Brescia, Italy (east of Milan) on 21 November 2009, after being accused of providing logistical support to the attacks and transferring more than US$200 to Internet accounts using a false ID.[165][166] They had Red Corner Notices issued against them by Interpol for their suspected involvement and it was issued after the last year's strikes.[167]

In October 2009, two Chicago men were arrested and charged by the FBI for involvement in "terrorism" abroad, David Coleman Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana. Headley, a Pakistani-American, was charged in November 2009 with scouting locations for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.[168][169] Headley is reported to have posed as an American Jew and is believed to have links with militant Islamist groups based in Bangladesh.[170] On 18 March 2010, Headley pleaded guilty to a dozen charges against him thereby avoiding going to trial.

In December 2009, the FBI charged Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, a retired major in the Pakistani army, for planning the attacks in association with Headley.[171]

On 15 January 2010, in a successful snatch operation R&AW agents nabbed Sheikh Abdul Khwaja, one of the handlers of the 26/11 attacks, chief of HuJI India operations and a most wanted suspect in India, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and brought him over to Hyderabad, India for formal arrest.[172]

On 25 June 2012, the Delhi Police Department arrested Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Hamza, one of the key suspects in the attack at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi. His arrest was touted as the most significant development in the case since Kasab's arrest.[173] Security agencies had been chasing him for three years in Delhi. Ansari is a Lashker-e-Taiba ultra and the Hindi tutor of the 10 attackers who were responsible for the Mumbai attacks in 2008.[174][175] He was apprehended, after he was arrested and deported to India by Saudi Intelligence officials as per official request by Indian authorities.[176] After Ansari's arrest, investigations revealed that in 2009 he allegedly stayed for a day in a room in Old Legislators's Hostel, belonging to Fauzia Khan, a former MLA and minister in Maharashtra Government. The minister, however, denied having any links with him. Home Minister P. Chidambaram asserted that Ansari was provided a safe place in Pakistan and was present in the control room, which could not have been established without active State support. Ansari's interrogation further revealed that Sajid Mir and a Pakistani Army major visited India under fake names as cricket spectators to survey targets in Delhi and Mumbai for about a fortnight.[177][178][179]

Sajid Mir, a Pakistani citizen and key operative of the militant Islamic extremist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),[180][181] is seen as one of the main organizers of the 2008 attacks.[182][183] He has been called the "mastermind"[184] and "project manager".[181] Mir is on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's Most Wanted list and the United States Department of State offers in its Rewards for Justice Program,[185] a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Mir.[186][187] Mir has carried out terrorism operations in different parts of the world, including France.[182]

Jason M. Blazakis, professor of practice at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, stated in 2018 in The Hill: "A lethal, miasmic mix of bureaucratic inertia, diplomatic dysfunction and misperception has contributed to the fact that LeT members Sajid Mir, Mazhar Iqbal, Abu Qahafa (his nom de guerre), and their ISI handler, Major Iqbal (no relation to Mazhar), roam free."[188]

A number of suspects were arrested on false charges. At least two of them spent nearly eight years in prison and were not paid any compensation by the Indian government.[189]

Pakistan moved troops towards the border with India voicing concerns about the Indian government's possible plans to launch attacks on Pakistani soil if it did not co-operate. After days of talks, the Pakistan government, however, decided to start moving troops away from the border.[243]

Kasab's trial was delayed due to legal issues, as many Indian lawyers were unwilling to represent him. A Mumbai Bar Association passed a resolution proclaiming that none of its members would represent Kasab. However, the Chief Justice of India stated that Kasab needed a lawyer for a fair trial. A lawyer for Kasab was eventually found, but was replaced due to a conflict of interest.[258] On 25 February 2009, Indian investigators filed an 11,000-page chargesheet, formally charging Kasab with murder, conspiracy, and waging war against India among other charges.[259]

Kasab's trial began on 23 March 2009, and he pled not guilty on 6 May 2009.[260] On 10 June 2009, Devika Rotawan, a child who had been shot in her leg during the attack, identified Kasab as one of the attackers during her testimony.[261][262] He pled guilty on 20 July 2009.[260] The judge found many of the 86 charges were not addressed in his confession, and therefore the trial continued 23 July 2009.[260] Kasab initially apologised for the attacks and said he deserved the death penalty for his crimes, but on 18 December 2009, retracted his confession, and said he had been forced by police to make his confession.[260]

Kasab was convicted of all 86 charges on 3 May 2010.[260] He was found guilty of murder for directly killing seven people, conspiracy to commit murder for the deaths of the 164 people killed in the three-day terror siege, waging war against India, causing terror, and of conspiracy to murder two high-ranking police officers. On 6 May 2010, he was sentenced to death by hanging.[263][264][265][266] However, he appealed his sentence at high court. On 21 February 2011, the Bombay High Court upheld the death sentence of Kasab, dismissing his appeal.[267]

On 29 August 2012, the Indian Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for Kasab. The court stated, "We are left with no option but to award death penalty. The primary and foremost offence committed by Kasab is waging war against the Government of India".[268] The verdict followed 10 weeks of appeal hearings, and was decided by a two-judge Supreme Court panel, which was led by Judge Aftab Alam. The panel rejected arguments that Kasab was denied a free and fair trial.[269]

Kasab filed a mercy petition with the President of India, which was rejected on 5 November. Kasab was hanged in Pune's Yerwada jail in secret on 21 November 2012 at 7:30 am named as operation 'X'. The Indian embassy in Islamabad informed the Pakistan government about Kasab's hanging through a letter. Pakistan refused to take the letter, which was then faxed to them. His family in Pakistan was sent news of his hanging via a courier.[270]

Indian and Pakistani police exchanged DNA evidence, photographs and items found with the attackers to piece together a detailed portrait of the Mumbai plot. Police in Pakistan arrested seven people, including Hammad Amin Sadiq, a homoeopathic pharmacist, who arranged bank accounts and secured supplies. Sadiq and six others began their formal trial on 3 October 2009 in Pakistan. Indian authorities said the prosecution stopped well short of top Lashkar leaders.[271] In November 2009, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Pakistan had not done enough to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice.[272]

An eight-member commission comprising defence lawyers, prosecutors and a court official was allowed to travel to India on 15 March 2013 to gather evidence for the prosecution of seven suspects linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks. However, the defence lawyers were barred from cross-examining the four prosecution witnesses in the case including Ajmal Kasab.[273][274] On the eve of the first anniversary of 26/11, a Pakistani anti-terror court formally charged seven accused, including LeT operations commander Zaki ur Rehman Lakhvi. However, the actual trial started on 5 May 2012. The Pakistani court conducting trial of Mumbai attacks accused, reserved its judgement on the application filed by Lakhvi, challenging the report of the judicial panel, to 17 July 2012.[275] On 17 July 2012, the court refused to take the findings of the Pakistani judicial commission as part of the evidence. However, it ruled that if a new agreement, which allows the panel's examination of witnesses, is reached, the prosecution may make an application for sending the panel to Mumbai.[276] The Indian Government, upset over the court ruling, however, contended that evidence collected by the Pakistani judicial panel has evidential value to punish all those involved in the attack.[277] On 21 September 2013, a Pakistani judicial commission arrived in India to carry out the investigation and to cross examine the witnesses. This is the second such visit: the one in March 2012 was not a success[278] as its report was rejected by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan due to lack of evidence.

The LeT operative David Headley (born Daood Sayed Gilani) in his testimony before a Chicago federal court during co-accused Tahawwur Rana's trial revealed that Mumbai Chabad House was added to the list of targets for surveillance given by his Inter Services Intelligence handler Major Iqbal, though the Oberoi Hotel, one of the sites attacked, was not originally on the list.[279] On 10 June 2011, Tahawwur Rana was acquitted of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks, but was held guilty on two other charges.[280] He was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on 17 January 2013.[281]

David Headley pleaded guilty to 12 counts related to the attacks, including conspiracy to commit murder in India and aiding and abetting in the murder of six Americans. On 23 January 2013, he was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison. His plea that he not be extradited to India, Pakistan or Denmark was accepted.[282]

• Mumbai Massacre (2009), television documentary film by Victoria Midwinter Pitt about survivors of the attack. Originally broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, it was re-edited for PBS' Secrets of the Dead as the episode "Mumbai Massacre", it was also shown in Four Corners as the twenty-sixth episode of season 49.[289][290]
• Terror in Mumbai (2009), British television documentary film by Dan Reed, broadcast by HBO which features audio tapes of the intercepted phone calls between the young gunmen and their controllers in Pakistan, and testimony from the sole surviving gunman.[291]
• Mumbai Terror Attacks (2010), Indian television documentary film by Ashish R. Shukla produced by Miditech and broadcast by Nat Geo India.[292]
• "City Under Siege" (2012), directed by Matthew Hinchcliffe, first episode of the television documentary series Black Ops with a focus on the rescue operation during the attacks.[293]
• "Terror in Mumbai" (2011), directed by Mike Phillips, fourth episode of the American television docudrama series Got Home Alive, about foreign tourists caught in the attacks.[294]
• "Mumbai Massacre" (2012), directed by Stan Griffin, sixth episode of season 5 of the television docudrama series Seconds from Disaster, focusing on intelligence failures which lead to the attacks.[295]
• "Operation Black Tornado" (2018), third episode of the Indian television documentary series Battle Ops on the online channel Veer by Discovery.[296][297]
• Rubaru Roshni (2019), Indian documentary film by Svati Chakravarty Bhatkal broadcast by Star India, about survivors of the attacks.[298]

• Crackers (2011), Indian animated film by Anil Goyal, inspired by the attacks.
• Shahid (2012), Indian biographical drama film by Hansal Mehta, based on the life of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi - assassinated in 2010 after agreeing to defend Faheem Ansari who was accused of abetting the terrorists (was later found not-guilty by the courts).[299]
• The Attacks of 26/11 (2013), Indian action thriller film directed by Ram Gopal Varma, depicting the attacks based on the book Kasab: The Face of 26/11 by Rommel Rodrigues with a focus on Ajmal Kasab.[300]
• Arrambam (2013), Indian action-thriller film by Vishnuvardhan about counter-terrorism operations in India, inspired by the attacks.[301]
• Phantom (2015), Indian action-thriller film by Kabir Khan, an alternative-historical account about the assassination of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed.[302]
• Taj Mahal (2015), French-Belgian thriller-drama film directed and written by Nicolas Saada. It was screened in the Horizons section at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival. The film is about an 18-year-old French girl who was alone in her hotel room when the terrorists attacked the hotel.[303]
• Mumbai Siege: 4 Days of Terror (also known as One Less God) (2017), independent Australian film directed by Lliam Worthington, featuring the situation of some foreigners inside Taj Hotel.[304]
• Hotel Mumbai (2019), action thriller film directed by Anthony Maras and written by John Collee and Maras. It has come under criticism for omitting any reference to the role of Pakistan in the terror strikes.[305]
• Sooryavanshi (2021), Indian action film by Rohit Shetty set in the aftermath of the counter-terrorism operations following the attacks.[306]
• Major (2022), an Indian biographical-action film directed by Sashi Kiran Tikka. Shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi languages, the film is based on the life of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, who was killed while rescuing hostages during the attacks.[307]

• State of Siege: 26/11 (2020), Indian Hindi-language web series released on ZEE5, showing the attacks from the perspective of NSG Commandos. It is based on the book Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11 by journalist Sandeep Unnithan.[308]
• Mumbai Diaries 26/11 (2021), Indian Hindi-language medical drama series on Amazon Prime Video. The series is directed by Nikhil Advani and Nikhil Gonsalves. It follows the staff of Bombay General Hospital during the night of the attacks.[309][310]

• Kasab: The Face of 26/11 (2010) by Rommel Rodrigues focuses on Ajmal Kasab, the sole terrorist who was caught. It is the basis of the aforementioned film The Attacks of 26/11.[300]

• The Siege: The Attack on the Taj is a non-fiction book by Cathy Scott-Clerk and Adrian Levy. It is an account of the 2008 attacks on The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, India, during the night of 26 November 2008. The book was first published by Penguin Books in 2013.[311]

• In 2014, Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11[312][313] was published by Indian journalist Sandeep Unnnithan, a non-fiction book, presented a blow-by-blow account of the terrorist strike and how the siege of Mumbai was thwarted by India’s security forces. The book covers the heroic efforts of Marine Commandos of Indian Navy as well as an ill-equipped yet valiant Mumbai Police. But its primary focus is on the 51 Special Action Group of National Security Guards, commanded by the decorated Indian Army Special Forces officer, then Colonel, now Brigadier. Sunil Sheoran Sena Medal (Bar). The book delves into the reasons for the delayed arrival of the NSG, including incredible facts like the then Home Minister of India, Shivraj Patil, wanted to fly in the NSG aircraft and came 1 hour late to board the plane which inturn delayed the NSG's arrival into the city and that the then Southern Army Commander, Lt. General. Noble Thamburaj, notoriously toured the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel with his wife while the NSG operation was still on. It was adapted into the web series State of Siege: 26/11 (2020).[314][315]

• Aziz Burney wrote a book titled 26/11: RSS ki Saazish? ("26/11: An RSS conspiracy?") hinting that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh was somehow linked to the attack and launched the book in presence of Congress leader Digvijaya Singh.[316] Later as RSS filed a case against him, he had to apologise for it.[317][318]

• In his 2020 memoirs, Let Me Say It Now, former IPS officer Rakesh Maria, who was given the responsibility of investigating the attacks and personally interrogated Ajmal Kasab, revealed the extent to which terrorists had gone to ensure their bodies would be mis-identified as Hindus, to lend credence to the narrative that the attack was the handiwork of Hindu extremists, and thus provide the Pakistani authorities with plausible deniability. According to Maria, Lashkar-e-Taiba wanted Kasab to be killed as a Bengaluru resident named ‘Samir Dinesh Chaudhari’, with a "red (sacred) thread" tied around his wrist to portray the attack as a case of ‘Hindu terror’, but their plan apparently did not succeed and the police nabbed Kasab. LeT had even given each terrorist a fake identity card listing an Indian address, to further strengthen the circumstantial narrative. If everything went according to plan, Kasab would have died as Chaudhari and the media would have blamed 'Hindu terrorists' for the attack. Kasab, in his confessional account, acknowledged this plot, as did David Coleman Headley, who corroborated this account by confirming that the sacred threads to be worn around the terrorists' wrists to identify them as Hindus, were procured from Mumbai's Siddhivinayak Temple.[319][320]