NEW DELHI - THERE were ample warnings from intelligence agencies, both foreign and domestic, about a terrorist attack on hotels and other targets in Mumbai, but inexplicably, they were either not acted upon or came too late in the day.

According to official sources, United States intelligence agencies had warned New Delhi in October of a terrorist attack on the island city, which could make its way through the sea and aim for specific targets, including the Taj Mahal Hotel.

They said the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India's external intelligence agency, had also issued a series of warnings, the latest being on Nov 18, a week before the carnage, about an imminent attack on Mumbai by the sea wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant outfit that New Delhi blames for the attack. The Intelligence Bureau, the domestic intelligence agency, also said it issued alerts in late September, warning that Lashkar was preparing to attack waterfront targets in south Mumbai.

Even the head of Maharashtra's leading fishermen's union had tipped off the state government four months ago about militants using sea routes to land explosives in Mumbai. 'No one acted upon our information,' said Mr Damodar Tandel, president of the fishermen's committee.

The government has come under fire for its failure to prevent the attack, particularly since the city had been targeted a number of times. Its woeful unpreparedness in countering the terrorists despite intelligence alerts has enraged the Indian public.

But security agencies deny inaction.

Official sources said RAW's warning came after the agency intercepted a call from a satellite phone, in which an unidentified person was heard saying that he was headed for Mumbai with some cargo.

The call was traced to a merchant ship with a Lahore phone number known to be used by Lashkar's main commander for anti-India operations, known only by the code-names 'Muzammil' and 'Abu Hurrera'.

Officials said that following the RAW warning, the Indian navy and coast guard launched a full-scale hunt for the merchant ship. Using global positioning system coordinates of the intercepted call, they identified the tentative position of the ship but could not locate it.

Investigators now have a fairly good idea of what happened, based on the interrogation of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist to be caught alive.

On spotting Indian patrol ships, the terrorists, who had set sail from Karachi in the merchant ship, hijacked an Indian fishing trawler, Kuber, in mid-ocean. They killed four of the five people on board, tossed their bodies overboard and forced the captain to take them to the shores of Mumbai.

The captain's throat was slit once they reached their destination. His body and those of the four fishermen have been recovered from the high seas.

While the police have claimed that all the 10 terrorists involved in the attack had been accounted for, sources said '15 winter jackets and 15 toothbrushes' were found on the hijacked trawler.

Ajmal was reported to have told his interrogators initially that there were more men in the group, but later said that only 10 made the trip.

pjay@sph.com.sg