Taking a page out of the Somali pirates' playbook, the terrorists who attacked Mumbai first hijacked an Indian flagged fishing trawler which paved the way for their waterborne attack.

MUMBAI: The satellite phone and global positioning system (GPS) map recovered from a trawler abandoned in the high seas is now among the most crucial pieces of evidence connected to the terror attacks on Mumbai.

The vessel, Kuber, was found drifting 5-6 nautical miles off the Mumbai shore; the entire crew is missing except for the group leader, Amar Narayan, 38, whose body was found on board with limbs tied, blindfolded and neck slit open. 

The vessel provided a perfect cover. "Most of the time, we act on specific information," an Indian Coast Guard officer told the Times of India. "We rarely check such fishing trawlers with Indian flags.''  

The terrorists are believed to have used the trawler for cover to make the journey to Mumbai without being detected by the Coast Guard. A nondescript, 25-metre-long fishing vessel bearing the name ‘Kuber’ in the Gujarati script and a Gujarat registration number would have barely raised an eyebrow in a region dotted with numerous such boats. To complete the appearance, it carried nearly 50 kg of marinated fish, rice and lentils.

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