of the targets. They arranged for the capture of the Kuber so as to be able to land the terrorists in Mumbai. Thereafter, using VOIP systems, they guided their men at every turn of the operation from a control room in Karachi. Even as the Mumbai operation was on, it was clear that the Lashkar was already shifting tracks. They were on to getting radicalised Indian Muslims to do their work so as to maintain plausible deniability. That is why, the cover story of the attackers was that they were the 'Deccan Mujahideen'. Ansari's key role was to convince the Indian media that the attackers were Indians, and for that they also carried false identity cards, credit cards and even wore the sacred red thread many Indians have around their hands. Intelligence value: Ansari's knowledge will help investigators fill in the blanks about the 2008 Mumbai bombing This is where the link with the Indian Mujahideen, which was responsible for a spate of bombings across various Indian cities, including Delhi, in 2008, comes in. The tightly recruited IM cells had an Azamgarh connection and its leaders, Amir Raza Khan came from Kolkata and the Bhatkal brothers from Karnataka. All are currently in Pakistan and there is a high probability that Lashkar coordinates their operations. The chances are that ever since he mysteriously managed to escape from a Pakistani jail in 2009, and his arrest by Saudis last year, Ansari was busy with the next conspiracy. This could have involved recruiting