Bio: Ajmal Amir Kamal (the terrorist)

One of the 10 terrorist who was captured alive by Mumbai police has exposed many things during the interrogation. Here’s his description:

Age: 21

Location: Reportedly lived in Faridkot village( population around 3,000), Dipalpur tehsil, of Okara district, 50km east of Multan – Pakistan’s Punjab province

India Identity: Samir Chaudhary, a student of Arunodaya PG college.

Family: Ajmal belong to Qasai caste. He is the third of five siblings. His father Mohammad Amir Iman, runs dahi-puri cart in Faridkot near Multan while his elder brother Afzal, age 25, stays in Lahore, near Yadgar Nagar and works as a labourer. His mother Noor Elahi is a housewife and his elder sister, Rukaiyya Husain,  age 22, is married. A younger sister Suraiyya, age 14, and a brother Munir, age 11,  stay in Faridkot with the parents.

Education and Poverty: Ajmal’s poor father can’t keep him in the local government primary school. In 2000, 13-yr-old Ajmal , who has done just class 4, is sent off to his brother Afzal in Lahore. The elder brother, then 17, hardly has the means to look after his young brother Ajmal shuttles between Lahore and Faridkot village. Due to poverty, Ajmal left his house in 2005 and moved to Lahore.

Another source DNA says his father asked him to work for LeT two years before so that he could use this money to run the family.

Beginning of the end: In Lahore he didnot stay with his brother. He stayed at the shrine of holy man Syed Ali Hajveri. Like his elder brother, started working as labourer. Later he didnot find the job good. From thereon he was attracted to petty crime. With friend Muzaffar Lal Khan, he launched a new career in armed robberies . On Dec 21, 2007, Bakr-Eid day, they went to Rawalpindi to buy weapons. It’s here that they ran into activists of Jamaat-ud-Dawa – Lashkar-e-Taiba’s political wing – handing out pamphlets about their organization. After a brief chat, the duo sign up – not because of their conviction but for the training they might get. That, they feel, would further their career in crime Reach LeT’s base camp, Markaz Taiba.

The training: In the training programme, he was shown films on India’s alleged atrocities in Kashmir, and fiery lectures by preachers, including Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed’s talks, which led him to believe the Lashkar’s cause was worth giving his life. The camp gave him a sense of belonging that he never had in his family . When he used to come home during a 2-month breaks he found suddenly being treated with respect by his family and community kin After this break, Ajmal was chosen for for LeT’s basic combat course, Daura Aam. He did well and was chosen with small group of 32 for advanced training, Daura Khaas, at a camp near Manshera. Did well there too and was selected for high-skill marine commando and navigation training, especially imparted to the team of 10 fidayeen team, chosen to attack Mumbai. (Source: Times of India)

Sail to Mumbai: At 4.15 am, on Nov 23, Ajmal with the unit, sail off from a forlorn creeknear Karachi, each equipped with AK-47 s, 200 rounds of ammo and grenades Just before his departure, LeT military commander Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi promised Ajmal a reward of Rs 1.5 lakh to his family for his sacrifice in the cause of Islam. (Source: Times of India)