As the terrorists who launched the 26/11 attack on various targets in Mumbai, including CST station, the Taj Hotel and Chabad House, authorities were taken by surprise about how much the attackers knew about the city. So much so that it was widely believed that they were guided by someone locally.

Few knew, at least at the time of the attack, that the terrorists were well trained by Abdul Wajid aka Zarrar Shah, a resident of Sheikhpura district in Punjab province (Pakistan), who first identified the targets and then briefed the group of terrorists about them by using Google Earth. Not only that, Shah was also the person who set up the war room to guide them through the attack. It was at this war room that Lashkar-e-Taiba​ (LeT) commanders gave instructions to Ajmal Kasab and Abu Jundal, those at the Taj Hotel and at the Chabad House, by watching television channels from India and using the Voice over Internet Protocol system masking the origin to somewhere in Europe.

For Shah, the preparations for the attack had begun much earlier, though. It was sometime in 2008 that the man, who has been seen as LeT​’s communications chief by several intelligence agencies, started gleaning information on various targets across the world. As per the information in court records, Shah had zeroed in on at least 320 targets, but only 20 were from Mumbai. It is unclear if Shah was trying to cover his tracks by searching about several locations simultaneously.

He definitely tried hard to ensure he didn’t leave any trail. According to an article in the New York Times, Shah constantly worked on finding weak online security, looked up how the VoIP system functions so that he could show calls originating elsewhere, and surfed Internet porn and entertainment sites in between.

When he purchased the VoIP service from a service provider using the fake persona of Kharak Singh from Mumbai, Shah also haggled on price. He told them he had been using VoIP for over two years and that their rates were too high. When he was told that he wasn’t sending any traffic, he told them he would by the end of November.

Even as he was setting up the control room, Shah showed Kasab and the assault team members the intricate details of their sea travel, ensured they didn’t stumble upon any naval exercises, and even briefed them accurately on how to approach targets.

Hours before the Mumbai attacks began, Shah started Googling news coverage around the city and when news sites started covering the attacks live, Shah was reading them and helping Lakhvi and others to send out instructions.

Shah was eventually arrested on December 10, 2008.