Gunmen received local help, police say

New Delhi: The Pakistani-based group blamed for the Mumbai attacks kept an Indian as a "point man" to shepherd gunmen across India's porous borders to stage attacks, police said.

Sabauddin Ahmad, accused of managing terrorist safe houses in Nepal, was being brought to Mumbai for questioning in last month's attacks that left 171 dead. Ahmad was arrested in February following a deadly raid on an Indian police station.

Ahmad's position in Nepal extends the reach of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group investigators blame for the Mumbai siege, and could represent another blow to Indian officials who say Pakistan-based terrorists were entirely responsible.

"He was their main point man in Katmandu, a very trusted man by Lashkar," said Amitabh Yash, director of the police's Special Task Force in Uttar Pradesh, which arrested him.

Police said it was too early to determine whether Ahmad was involved in the Mumbai siege, but he was arrested along with another Indian terrorist who was found with a map highlighting Mumbai targets. Police say the operative, Faheem Ansari, had been preparing for the attacks since 2007.

Ahmad told interrogators he had contacts with several officials from Pakistan's spy service, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, Yash said.

"He named a lot of ISI officers," Yash said.

Islamabad's civilian government has denied its state agencies were involved in the Mumbai attacks, but said it was possible that the terrorists were Pakistanis. It has pledged to cooperate with India.

Further evidence

Rakesh Maria, Mumbai's chief police investigator, said on Wednesday that further evidence of links between the Pakistan-based charity Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar has emerged. He said the head of the charity, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, gave a motivational speech to the 10 gunmen who attacked Mumbai at the end of their training.

India's junior foreign minister demanded on Tuesday that the UN Security Council declare Jemaat-ud-Dawa a terrorist group, saying it was a front for Lashkar, which was banned in 2002.

Jamaat-ud-Dawa - which sprang up after Pakistan banned Lashkar in 2002 following US pressure - runs a chain of schools and medical clinics throughout the country and has helped survivors of two deadly earthquakes in recent years.

It denies any links to Lashkar.