26/11: Hoax call mystery resolved

Islamabad: The bizarre episode last year when the Pakistani government alleged that Indian foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee had called up their president Asif Ali Zardari and abused him, has now found resolution with the revelation by Pakistani news paper Dawn that the whole episode was a hoax pulled by none other than Daniel Pearl killer, and LeT terrorist, Omar Saeed Sheikh.

Sheikh is a British national of Pakistani origin and currently languishes in a Pakistani jail, convicted of murder charges in the Daniel Pearl case. He is also one of the handfuls who were released by the Indian government at Kandahar in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines aircraft, IC-814.

According to the Dawn report, Sheikh made hoax calls to president Asif Ali Zardari as well as the chief of army staff, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, in a bid to heighten Pakistan-India tensions even as the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai was under way.

 'Omar Saeed Sheikh was the hoax caller. It was he who threatened the civilian and military leaderships of Pakistan over telephone. And he did so from inside Hyderabad jail, Dawn staffer Azaz Syed quotes investigators as saying.

In brief, Syed's story suggests that Saadia Omar, Omar Sheikh's wife, informed him about the carnage in Mumbai. This was done through mobile phones Sheikh had in his possession illegally in his cell in Hyderabad jail. He was continuously kept updated by Saadia about the progress of the massacre right through the night into the morning.

Even as Indian forces managed to assert control over all terrorist-hit locations by the night of 28 November, Omar Saeed, using a UK-registered mobile SIM, made a phone call to Indian external affairs minister, Pranab Mukherjee claiming to be the president of Pakistan.