The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks pleaded guilty Monday and gave a detailed account of the plot and his role in the rampage that left 166 people dead and paralyzed the city for three days.

In a verbal statement, Ajmal Kasab described his group's journey from Karachi, Pakistan on a boat, their subsequent landing in Mumbai on Nov. 26, and his assault on a railway station and a hospital with a comrade he identified as Abu Ismail.

The other gunmen, also armed with automatic rifles and grenades, attacked a Jewish center and two five-star hotels, including the Taj Mahal. The rampage ended at the historic hotel days later after commandos killed the attackers holed up there.

"I was firing and Abu was hurling hand grenades (at the railway station)," Kasab told the court. "We both fired, me and Abu Ismail. We fired on the public."

Earlier Kasab, 21, stood up before the special court hearing his case just as a prosecution witness was to take the stand and addressed the judge. "Sir, I plead guilty to my crime," he said, triggering a collective gasp in the courtroom.