Mumbai Terrorist Wanted to 'Kill and Die' and Become Famous

December 3, 2008— -- Captured Mumbai Lashkar e Taiba terror commando Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab told police in a videotaped confession on the night of his arrest that he turned to violence in part because his impoverished family was promised almost $4000 US dollars if his attack succeeded.

"We were told that our big brother India is so rich and we are dying of poverty and hunger. My father sells dahi wada on a stall in Lahore and we did not even get enough food to eat from his earnings. I was promised that once they knew that I was successful in my operation, they would give Rs 1,50,000 [almost USD 4,000] to my family)," said Qasab.

He also naively begged police to not reveal he had survived since Lashkar e Taiba had sent him to die,and if it was revealed he had survived, he later would be killed by other members of his terrorist organization.

"Please do not tell anyone that I am caught alive otherwise they will kill me. They had told us that they would shoot us even if we returned to Pakistan," Asian Age reported.

According to Asian Age newspaper in Mumbai, Qasab also told authorities that he and the other nine members of his attack squad all carried student identification cards in an effort to hoodwink authorities should they have been stopped enroute to their targets in Mumbai. And he shocked police by his readiness to switch loyalities now that he was caught.

"If you give me regular meals and money I will do the same that I did for them," he said.

Intelligence and law enforcement sources in Mumbai tell ABC News that Qasab continues to be cooperative and is providing authorities with "new revelations" every day.

According to Asian Age, Qasab's original statement was written as well as video taped by police and took place very quickly following his arrest.

As has been publicly acknowledged by Indian authorities, Qasab told police that the group was trained to handle sophisticated weapons and to be at sea for up to a month, surviving on limited food and other resources. A student ID card of a college in Bangalore was also found on Qasab's person. "Qasab told us that all of them were carrying student identity cards to mislead the coastal guards in case they were questioned enroute," an officer present at the confession, who requested anonymity, said.