An important 26/11 evidence vanished within months of the attack and Indian investigators could do little about it.

Al-Hussaini, the vessel used by the 26/11 terrorists to reach Gujarat from Karachi, was sunk in the sea in 2009. Worried that it could help investigators gather evidence against them, the LeT, which owned the vessel, destroyed it. At least 14 people, including the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008, set sail from Karachi to Mumbai in Al-Hussaini. As the vessel neared Gujarat, the terrorists hijacked an Indian fishing trawler, MV Kuber.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist who was hanged in November last year, was part of this group. After the hijacking, the terrorists transferred their arms and ammunition from Al-Hussaini to Kuber. Four Indian fishermen were taken hostage and one of them, the trawler’s navigator Amar Solanki, was forced to help the terrorists reach the Mumbai shore.

Four DNA samples gathered from Kuber did not match with the DNA of the 10 Pakistani terrorists. These DNA samples belonged to four Pakistani wanted accused, who had sailed from Karachi to Gujarat with the gunmen in Al-Hussaini.

The terrorists killed Solanki few miles off the Mumbai coast and used a dinghy to reach the Cuffe Parade area. The city police had said the Yamaha engine used in the dinghy was from Pakistan. Under international pressure, Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency zeroed in on the shop from where the engine was bought.

“The LeT was alerted when the shop owner was questioned. They then sunk Al-Hussaini in the Karachi waters to ensure no trace of evidence was left behind,” a source in the security establishment said. Central agencies investigating the 26/11 attack are aware of this development, he said. None of the officers dna spoke to wanted to come on record. They also refused to say why this information was not made public till now.