MHA team made to extend Pak visit day before 26/11

A day before the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Pakistan had extended the stay of a home ministry delegation, raising questions over its motives.

The delegation led by the then home secretary Madhukar Gupta was made to extend their visit by a day in the pretext of a meeting with the country’s interior minister and were put up at a resort in Murree.

On November 26, 2008, when the delegation stayed an extra day in Pakistan, 10 LeT militants killed nearly 165 people in a carnage that went on for several hours.

Former under secretary R V S Mani said November 25 was the date fixed for talks but when he reached office the next day, he was told that the talks were extended by a day.

“I was in Lucknow on November 25 for some court case. I remember that when I returned on November 26, I came to know that their visit was extended by a day,” he said. BJP MP Kirit Somaiya criticised the carelessness on the part of the UPA government in power at the time, expressing shock at the Home Secretary enjoying Pakistani hospitality while Mumbai was burning.