When 26/11 terror attacks happened, home secretary Gupta was in Islamabad for talks

New Delhi: When 10 heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists carried out the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai, an Indian delegation headed by the then Union home secretary Madhukar Gupta was in Islamabad for bilateral talks to discuss various issues, including terrorism.

On Thursday, after years of efforts by Indian agencies, key accused in the attacks Tahawwur Hussain Rana is being brought to Delhi from the US to face justice in the case.

On November 26, 2008, when the terrorists reached Mumbai, sailing through the Arabian sea from Pakistan, Gupta was in Islamabad attending bilateral home secretary-level talks, what was then named as the 'Composite Dialogue', sources said.

The Indian delegation concluded the talks with their Pakistani counterparts on November 26. As part of the existing convention, the Indian delegation was supposed to meet Pakistan's Interior Minister for a courtesy call.

However, the Indian delegation wad told that the Pakistani minister was unavailable as he was travelling and they could meet him the next day i.e. on November 27. So the team stayed back, the sources said.

Later on that day (November 26), the Indian delegation was taken to Murree, a picturesque hill station near Islamabad.

That evening, the terrorists attacked Mumbai and carried out the country's worst terrorist carnage, killing 166 people.

When the news came, Gupta was in regular touch with senior leadership in Delhi from Murree.

The Indian delegation to Pakistan included an additional secretary in the ministry of home affairs, a joint secretary and a few other officers. The team spent that fateful night in Murree before rushing back to India the next day.

On Thursday, when contacted over phone, Gupta told PTI he was unwell and expressed his inability to talk.

There were speculation at that time that the Indian delegation could have been tricked by Pakistan to extend their stay by a day.

In Gupta's absence on that fateful day in 2008, the then special secretary (internal security) in the home ministry M L Kumawat was handling the affairs of the home ministry and giving initial instructions to the agencies concerned as advised by the then union home minister Shivraj Patil, who later resigned.

Kumawat, an IPS officer, was assisted by then then joint secretary Naveen Verma and a few other officers.

Rana, lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles, is being brought to Delhi Thursday by a multi-agency Indian team to face trail in the 26/11 attacks case. He is known to be closely associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the attacks.