Archive · 19 Dec 2025
Intelligence Officer Reveals 26/11 Conspiracies in New Book
A new book by an Intelligence Bureau officer and authors Prabhakar Aloka and Nikhil Ravi talks about the secret plans that led to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
The book explains how a project called the Karachi Project used regular mobile phones to communicate, making it hard for Indian intelligence to detect.
The terrorists used normal SIM cards bought through fake identities to avoid being caught.
Indian intelligence found out about this and set up a plan to monitor these SIM cards, which helped them listen in on the terrorists' conversations during the 26/11 attacks.
The book shows how the terrorists and intelligence agencies worked during this time.
The Karachi Project used regular mobile phones with unencrypted SIM cards to communicate, exploiting gaps in India's security architecture.
Indian intelligence agencies detected the pattern of using ordinary mobile phones for terrorist coordination by 2005.
A counterintelligence operation in 2008 allowed Indian agencies to monitor conversations between 26/11 terrorists and their handlers in real time.
The operation involved allowing compromised SIM cards to be used by terrorists, triggering surveillance protocols upon activation.
The book highlights the strategic patience and intelligence judo used by Indian agencies to counter the terrorist communication strategy.
- Who
- Intelligence Bureau officer and authors Prabhakar Aloka and Nikhil Ravi
- What
- Revelation of conspiracies leading to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in a new book
- When
- The book details events leading up to and including 2008
- Where
- India and Pakistan, with a focus on Mumbai and Karachi
- Why
- To expose the strategic and operational details of the Karachi Project and the 26/11 attacks
- Book Title
- Perfect Storm: The History and Anatomy of 26/11
- Authors
- Prabhakar Aloka and Nikhil Ravi
- Publisher
- Penguin India
- Key Conspiracy
- Karachi Project
- Communication Method
- Commercial mobile phones with unencrypted SIM cards
- Intelligence Operation
- Counterintelligence operation to monitor 26/11 terrorists
- Year of Operation
- 2008
- Intelligence Agency
- Intelligence Bureau, India