“During interrogation, Fahim has said that he was given the task of choosing targets in the city which LeT members would attack. With these orders, he conducted a recce of a dozen sensitive spots,” said Joint Commissioner of Police, Anti-Terrorism Squad, Hemant Karkare.

“Among the places where Fahim conducted recces are Churchgate and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway stations, Haj House, Haji Ali dargah, the Mumbai Police headquarters, the Maharashtra Police headquarters, Gateway of India and the Bombay Stock Exchange building,” said Karkare.

Fahim has told interrogators that he was the Lashkar’s Mumbai link, and was asked to arrange for accommodation in the city for the fidayeens so that they could plan and launch their attacks.

Fahim, who holds a Pakistani passport showing him as a resident of Rawalpindi, is actually a resident of the Motilal Nagar slums in Goregaon (West).

“He was born and brought up in Mumbai, and used to do odd jobs in the city. He went to Dubai for work, and in 2005 he joined the LeT. He visited Pakistan, where he attended a training camp near the jungles of Muzaffarabad. Fahim was in touch with a handler in Nepal, who is among the eight arrested by the UP STF (Special Task Force),” said Karkare.

According to the UP STF, Fahim stayed at Sunlight Guest House in the Grant Road area from November 28 to December 10, after which he took a room on rent at Batawalli Chawl, Falkland Road in the same area.

Fahim got a driver’s licence through Good Luck Motor Training School opposite JJ Hospital, where he used the alias Samir Shaikh, the UP STF said.

When Newsline visited the driving school, its records showed that three people with the name Samir Shaikh had registered with them since November last year. The three addresses provided were of Bandra, Dongri and Islampura.