Indian parliament attack 'bungled'

Security has been stepped up around parliament

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- Details are emerging in the Indian media suggesting last Thursday's daring suicide attack on parliament was intended to cause much more havoc than it eventually did.

A phone call that never came and two traffic accidents were enough to foil the game plan, the Indian Express newspaper reported, of its intended devastation.

Still, 13 people -- seven security guards, one gardener and the five attackers -- were killed in the raid, but the death toll was planned to be much higher.

India has blamed two Kashmiri militant groups for the attacks -- Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Police officials and government authorities are yet to provide much detail about their investigation and findings relating to the attack, but the Indian Express newspaper reported on Sunday that the first trip-up happened before the five-man attack team left for parliament.

One of the terrorist team -- a member of Jaish-e-Mohammad and known as Mohammed, 'Burger' or Sunny Ahmed Qazi -- was supposed to receive a phone call from the suspected ringleader of the attack briefing him on the situation at parliament and the presence of important figures, such as Cabinet members.

Phone call

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However that phone call never came, the newspaper reported.

Mohammed Afzal, one of two suspects arrested on Sunday was supposed to be monitoring parliamentary proceedings on television. After calling Afzal and getting no reply, Mohammed decided to go ahead with the attack.

Had Afzal contacted him, he may have told him that parliament had just been adjourned. In that scenario, the attack may not have taken place.

"Had Afzal done his job well and told them about the adjournment, the team wouldn't have gone ahead with the attack," the Commissioner of Polce Ajai Raj Sharma was quoted by the daily.

Then, on the way to parliament, the vehicle the gunmen were using hit another car. Two of the gunman, both wearing combat fatigues, were forced to get out of the vehicle and pacify the other car's driver, the newspaper reported, offering him cash for the damage.

Collision

But the most telling incident happened later on the journey.

The gunmen's vehicle was involved in another collision, this time with a car from the Indian Vice President's cavalcade.

When the driver and one of the vice presidents security personnel got out of that vehicle the terrorists panicked and opened fire, the paper reported citing an unnamed official.

It is believed the terrorists had planned to use their vehicle, a white Ambassador packed with explosives, to ram the car into parliament's porch.

Instead, they were forced onto their feet and run into the complex carrying AK-47s, heavy bags of equipment and explosives strapped to their bodies.

"They were carrying too much load; they were strapped with explosives and were moving cautiously. All this weighed on their mind and affected their reflexes," the official was quoted.

A 50-minute gun battle ensued, leaving all five gunmen dead. Seven security guards and a gardener, caught in the crossfire, were also killed.

Had the attack gone to plan, it is likely the toll would have been substantially higher.