<p>It was his father's refusal to buy him new clothes on Eid that forced a miffed Ajmal Amir Kasab to quit home, take to crime and then embrace jihad, leading to his death in India.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Until then, the now 25-year-old Kasab -- who was hanged in Pune Wednesday for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack -- led a simple life in an impoverished part of Pakistan's Punjab province. <br /><br />He belonged to a poor family. His father was a food vendor while a brother was a labourer in Lahore.<br /><br />It was in 2005 that Kasab decided to quit home after quarrelling with his father who could not provide him new clothes because of poverty.<br /><br />The young man soon took to petty crime and graduated to armed robbery. A chance encounter with Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, changed his life for ever.<br /><br />It did not take long for him to sign up for training with the bitterly anti-India Lashkar.<br />He was last seen in his village six months before the November 2008 Mumbai slaughter. Apparently, he sought blessings from his mother to wage jehad.<br /><br />Kasab was among the terrorists who underwent strenuous training, with the support of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.<br /><br />The Lashkar reportedly offered to pay his family Rs.150,000 for his participation in the Mumbai attack -- on the assumption he would become a "shaheed" (martyr).<br /><br />Kasab and nine other Pakistani terrorists sailed to Mumbai in two hijacked vessels with three targets in mind: the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel and Nariman House.<br /><br />Technology proved to be Kasab's undoing.<br />He was captured on CCTV when he unleashed mayhem at the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus along with fellow terrorist Ismail Khan.<br /><br />He was filmed carrying an AK-47, ammunition and dried fruit.<br />Kasab and Khan then hijacked a police vehicle after killing, among others, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare.<br /><br />As they drove drove towards Metro cinema, Kasab reportedly cracked jokes about the bulletproof vests worn by police.<br /><br />As fate would have it, one tyre suffered a puncture, so they stole another vehicle.<br />They ran into a police barricade at Chowpatty.<br /><br />Kasab and Khan tried to make a U-turn. The alert policemen opened fire, killing Khan.<br />A panicky Kasab pretended as if he was dead. But when assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble approached him, Kasab opened fire, killing him.<br /><br />Omble took five bullets but -- in an act of bravery that made him a posthumous hero -- held on to Kasab's weapon, enabling his colleagues to overpower him.<br />The entire incident was captured on video for posterity.<br /><br />Once in police custody, Kasab begged his interrogators to kill him, saying he feared for the safety of his family in Pakistan.<br /><br />What followed was a long trial, with ups and downs. At one point, the Pakistani claimed he was not given a fair trial. <br /><br />His four-year detention ended in November when President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his pending mercy petition. On Wednesday morning, in an operation shrouded in secrecy, he was hanged in Pune's Yerawada Jail.<br /><br />--Indo-Asian News Service<br />mr/snb/mj<br />(580 Words)<br />**<br />21111453</p>
<p>It was his father's refusal to buy him new clothes on Eid that forced a miffed Ajmal Amir Kasab to quit home, take to crime and then embrace jihad, leading to his death in India.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Until then, the now 25-year-old Kasab -- who was hanged in Pune Wednesday for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack -- led a simple life in an impoverished part of Pakistan's Punjab province. <br /><br />He belonged to a poor family. His father was a food vendor while a brother was a labourer in Lahore.<br /><br />It was in 2005 that Kasab decided to quit home after quarrelling with his father who could not provide him new clothes because of poverty.<br /><br />The young man soon took to petty crime and graduated to armed robbery. A chance encounter with Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, changed his life for ever.<br /><br />It did not take long for him to sign up for training with the bitterly anti-India Lashkar.<br />He was last seen in his village six months before the November 2008 Mumbai slaughter. Apparently, he sought blessings from his mother to wage jehad.<br /><br />Kasab was among the terrorists who underwent strenuous training, with the support of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency.<br /><br />The Lashkar reportedly offered to pay his family Rs.150,000 for his participation in the Mumbai attack -- on the assumption he would become a "shaheed" (martyr).<br /><br />Kasab and nine other Pakistani terrorists sailed to Mumbai in two hijacked vessels with three targets in mind: the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Oberoi Trident Hotel and Nariman House.<br /><br />Technology proved to be Kasab's undoing.<br />He was captured on CCTV when he unleashed mayhem at the crowded Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus along with fellow terrorist Ismail Khan.<br /><br />He was filmed carrying an AK-47, ammunition and dried fruit.<br />Kasab and Khan then hijacked a police vehicle after killing, among others, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare.<br /><br />As they drove drove towards Metro cinema, Kasab reportedly cracked jokes about the bulletproof vests worn by police.<br /><br />As fate would have it, one tyre suffered a puncture, so they stole another vehicle.<br />They ran into a police barricade at Chowpatty.<br /><br />Kasab and Khan tried to make a U-turn. The alert policemen opened fire, killing Khan.<br />A panicky Kasab pretended as if he was dead. But when assistant sub-inspector Tukaram Omble approached him, Kasab opened fire, killing him.<br /><br />Omble took five bullets but -- in an act of bravery that made him a posthumous hero -- held on to Kasab's weapon, enabling his colleagues to overpower him.<br />The entire incident was captured on video for posterity.<br /><br />Once in police custody, Kasab begged his interrogators to kill him, saying he feared for the safety of his family in Pakistan.<br /><br />What followed was a long trial, with ups and downs. At one point, the Pakistani claimed he was not given a fair trial. <br /><br />His four-year detention ended in November when President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his pending mercy petition. On Wednesday morning, in an operation shrouded in secrecy, he was hanged in Pune's Yerawada Jail.<br /><br />--Indo-Asian News Service<br />mr/snb/mj<br />(580 Words)<br />**<br />21111453</p>