FBI confirms Pakistan link in 26/11

The identity of the expert was not disclosed due to security reasons. The expert, who is an electronics engineer, told the designated judge M L Tahilyani that the five Global Positioning System (GPS) devices used by the terrorists clearly indicated that they had come from Karachi.

The FBI had conducted an independent investigation into the attacks with the permission of the Indian government, as six American nationals had fallen victims to the terror strikes. The FBI mainly provided technical expertise like analysing the GPS devices and tracing phone calls from the satellite phone.

The FBI expert said he had examined five GPS devices and a satellite phone recovered by the investigators from the 10 terrorists, out of whom nine were killed during the NSG and police operations, and one — Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab — is standing trial.

The FBI witness said the “Way Point” retrieved from the GPS devices reflected the route from Karachi to Mumbai and also positions between these two cities.

The witness said that out of the five GPSes, two were not functioning because the battery was depleted and hence the data could not be retrieved from them. The other three GPS devices had clearly shown the route between these two cities.

The FBI witness gave hard and soft copies of the data report submitted by him to the Mumbai police earlier.

The downloaded data showed a number of maps and routes, including one from off the coast of Pakistan to Mumbai, the FBI expert said. “This route starts in the ocean near the Gulf of Karachi and it goes to Mumbai. The route was stored by the user,” he added.

Other locations found on the GPS system included areas of Karachi and Rawalpindi and of Mumbai. The expert said he had examined these devices on February 11 and completed the examination by February 18. Three more American witnesses are likely to depose during the trial.