NEW DELHI: AL HUSSEINI, the ship that carried Pakistani fedayeens before they embarked on Indian trawler Kuber to wreck havoc in Mumbai, has suddenly gone off the radar.
Sources in the security agencies claimed that Al Husseini, actually belonging to Lashkar-e-Toiba, was operating under the guise of a merchant ship to evade identity and that could probably be the reason of its sudden disappearance.
“Our continuous search has failed to trace the ship which gives us enough reason to believe that it has been taken away and hidden in some safe location to destroy all the incriminating evidence that it can be linked to,” a source said.
Sources said they have forwarded their demand for examining and inspecting the ship to Pakistani authorities through government channels.
Agencies believe that the ferrying passengers and goods between Dubai-Karachi and Mumbai was a deliberate ploy of the ISI and LeT to hoodwink authorities in international waters as the ship, indirectly controlled by LeT top functionary Zaki-ur-Rehman, was being used for smuggling and ferrying wanted terrorists.
Investigations have revealed that 10 fedayeens, including Ajmal Amir Qasab who is under police custody, had boarded the ship at Karachi port on November 18-19.
The ship was coming from Dubai port with around 200 passengers and some cargo. It had visited India four times during 2007 and its visit in November was the second to the Indian sea this year.