Fresh CCTV footage emerged today of the terrorists who killed nearly 200 people in Mumbai as they set about their killing spree.

The images capture the moment that the baby-faced militant Azam Amir Kasab, 21, the only gunman to be captured alive, and an accomplice – named by reports in the Indian media as Abu Ismail Dera Ismail Khan, 25 – opened fire indiscriminately at Mumbai's main train station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, one of the world's busiest.

The pair, armed with AK47 rifles and grenades and carrying backpacks stuffed with ammunition, targeted a popular family café inside the station. As a hail of bullets burst through the eatery, terrified diners cover their ears and dive behind counters to search for cover.

Staff scramble towards a rear entrance in panic.

The footage underscores how Mumbai's police force was hopelessly outgunned and overwhelmed from the attack's earliest moments.

Two policemen are seen sheltering in an alcove inside the station as the two heavily armed militants stalk an empty concourse that moments before had been crowded with travellers.

One policemen appears to try to take a shot at the terrorists with his Lee Enfield-type bolt-action rifle. He is forced to cower as one of the gunmen fires from the hip in his direction and a bullet slams into a pillar close to the policeman's head.

Meanwhile, Kasab has claimed that his father introduced him to the Pakistan-based militant group suspected to be behind last week's bloody attacks in exchange for cash, according to a leaked account of his interrogation.

The 21-year-old, who is a Pakistani national from the Punjab region, said that his father, Amir, introduced him to a commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a well-known terrorist faction. The commander, known as "chacha" (uncle), paid the father.

Kasab said that he was previously a labourer and came from a poor family.

Security experts say that payment is one of three main recruitment tools used by Islamist extremists. The other two are the madrassas, or Islamic seminaries, scattered across Pakistan, and threats of violence, often made to the families of those being recruited.

There have been reports, however, that Kasab speaks fluent English, suggesting that he is from Pakistan's relatively wealthy middle classes. That would make him what experts call a "high quality" militant - well educated, not from a madrassa and not vulnerable to financial pressure or inducements.

Indian officials remain convinced that the attack on Mumbai bears the hallmark of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was believed to be behind a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament, where terrorists stormed the building with guns and grenades, taking hostages as part of a suicidal mission.

They also believe that Lashkar-e-Toiba does not act without the sanction of some part of the Pakistan government – although how far up the chain is a matter of intense debate.

But as the United States and its allies rushed to mediate between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, India said today that it was not considering military action against Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks.

Pakistan also tried to ease tensions by offering a joint investigation into the attacks ahead of a visit by Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, to India tomorrow.

However, India's Hindu nationalist opposition kept up the pressure on the Government to find a robust response to the assault on Mumbai.

Meanwhile, it emerged that the rabbi killed along with his wife and four others in the Mumbai Jewish centre was reading a book about how to deal with terrorists when he was murdered.

Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, was found by his colleague, Rabbi Dov Goldberg, lying slumped on the ground of his living quarters wrapped in tefillin, a prayer aid containing the Hebrew scrolls.

On his bedside table were found copies of Jewish holy texts along with a book entitled: 'How to protect yourself when terrorists come to your house.'

Speaking to The Times at an emotional mourning procession in Jerusalem today, Rabbi Goldberg said that he realised when he found his friend's body that he would have to take over his outreach mission in Mumbai.

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