Kasab guilty in 26/11 case, two Indians acquitted

Monday, May 3, 2010 | AA
Mumbai, May 3 (IANS) Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab was Monday declared guilty on 83 of 86 charges, including murder and waging war against the Indian state, in the November 2008 terror attack by a special court that acquitted the two other accused -- Indians Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.

Kasab, 23, the lone Pakistani captured alive after the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike, listened attentively with his head bowed while Special Judge M.L. Tahalyani read out the 1,522-page verdict over almost three hours. He went through each of the charges against the three accused separately.

Kasab has been found guilty of killing at least 59 people in the 26/11 carnage that saw 166 Indians and foreigners being massacred and more injured.

Ansari and Ahmed, who were also in court, were set free. They had been charged with conspiracy in the terror attacks - preparing maps of the targeted locations and handing these to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives.

The special judge said Ansari and Ahmed have been "forthwith acquitted from the case and allowed to be set free if they are not wanted in any other case".

The judge also accepted the confession Kasab had given after his arrest. The court ruled that the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and Kasab's Pakistani handlers had been established by the prosecution.

Kasab was charged on 86 counts, under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including waging war against the nation. Besides, he faced charges under the Explosives Act, the Arms Act, the Passport Act, the Prevention of Damage to Public Properties Act, the Customs Act, the Explosive Substances Act, the Bombay Police Act, the Foreigners Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The 60-hour audacious attack that began on the night of Nov 26, 2008 and went on till the afternoon of Nov 29, 2009 was carried out by 10 Pakistani terrorists including Kasab.

They targeted sites like the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Hotel Oberoi-Trident, the Cama Hospital and the Chabad House, a Jewish prayer centre, and the popular hangout Leopold Café.

The trial of Kasab - the only among the 10 who survived - started April 15, 2009 and was completed March 31 this year, after nearly seven months of hearings, excluding breaks and vacations.

<h2>Acquittal of Ansari, Sabauddin to be challenged</h2>

Mumbai, May 3 (IANS) The acquittal for Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin will be challenged, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Monday, shortly after the special court hearing the 26/11 attack case set two Indian co-accused free while declaring Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab guilty.

He said Ansari and Sabauddin were "notorious terrorists". They were active members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and were "not passive sleepers", Nikam told reporters after the verdict in the case by Special Judge M.L. Tahalyani.

"I will challenge this verdict. We will recommend to the government to challenge this verdict," Nikam said.

Nikam said Kasab had been declared guilty on all counts.

"Kasab has been declared guilty on charges of waging war against the Indian state. Today we conclusively proved how terrorists are trained in a neighbouring country, how terrorist activities go on there."

<h2>Kasab - how a poor Pakistani became India's terror nightmare</h2>

Islamabad, May 3 (IANS) From the bylanes of a village in Pakistan to a heavily guarded prison cell in Mumbai as India's most wanted terrorist, Ajmal Amir Kasab had indeed come a long way in his 23 years. The lone Pakistani terrorist to be caught alive after the 26/11 terror attack was Monday held guilty, closing one more chapter in his troubled life.

Kasab, who became the face of the 2008 Mumbai mayhem that left 166 people dead with shots of his casually striding into the Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus with a gun and a backback captured on CCTV that has remain imprinted in public memory, was indoctrinated into the Lashkar-e-Taiba after he left home following a fight with his parents.

It was Nov 26, 2008. The heavily armed Kasab, who was Monday held guilty on 83 of 86 charges by a special court, with nine other terrorists had sneaked into India's buzzing financial and entertainment capital from Pakistan to unleash 60 hours terror that shook India. He was the only one to be arrested while the rest of his group were gunned down by security personnel.

Born to poverty in Faridkot village in Okara district in Pakistan's Punjab province in 1987, he left school because his parents couldn't afford it.

When he was barely in his teens, he shifted to Lahore and began to live with his elder brother.

A fight with his parents in 2005 changed his life and a determined Kasab vowed never to return.

He began working as a labourer and then took to petty crime to earn quick money. It was during these days that Kasab was indoctrinated into the LeT and underwent the terror group's basic training, the Daura-e-Aam.

He did well in the basic course and was selected for advanced combat training - the Daura-e-Khaas.

Kasab was then selected with nine others to undergo special training where they would learn about commando warfare and navigation.

They carefully studied the layout of Mumbai before embarking on a journey that would end in a terror strike, leading to a new low in the relations between the two nuclear armed nations.

<h2>Nov 26, 2008 - May 3, 2010: timeline of 26/11 trial</h2>

Mumbai, May 3 (IANS) The verdict in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case was delivered Monday with Special Judge M.L. Tahalyani declaring Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab guilty and acquitting the two Indian co-accused Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed. The following is the timeline of the Nov 26-29, 2008 carnage trial:

2008:

Nov 26: Ajmal Amir Kasab and nine other Pakistani terrorists launch commando style attacks simultaneously at several locations in and around south Mumbai.

Nov 27: Around 1.30 a.m., Kasab is caught by policemen from Girgaum Chowpatty in south Mumbai, arrested and admitted to Nair hospital.

Nov 29: Kasab gives statement to police, confesses his role in the carnage.

Nov 29: All places under siege secured, nine terrorists killed, Kasab sole terrorist caught alive.

Nov 30: Kasab records confession before police.

Dec 27/28: Identification parade held.

2009:

Jan 13: Maharashtra government appoints M.L. Tahalyani as 26/11 trial Special Judge.

Jan 16: Arthur Road Jail selected, prepared and fortified for the high profile Kasab trial.

Feb 5: Kasab's DNA samples match with articles seized from shipping vessel Kuber.

Feb 20/21: Kasab makes confession before Magistrate R.V. Sawant-Wagule.

Feb 22: Ujjwal Nikam, veteran of March 12, 1993, terror trial, appointed Special Public Prosecutor for 26/11 trial.

Feb 25: Charge sheet against Kasab, two others filed in Esplanade Metropolitan Court.

April 1: Court appoints Anjali Waghmare as Kasab's lawyer.

April 15: Anjali Waghmare removed as Kasab's lawyer.

April 16: S.G. Abbas Kazmi appointed as Kasab's lawyer.

April 17: Kasab's confession opened in court, he retracts it.

April 20: Prosecution charges Kasab on 312 counts.

April 29: Kasab is major: experts' opinion.

May 6: Charges framed, Kasab charged on 86 counts, but he denies charges.

May 8: First eyewitness deposes, identifies Kasab.

June 23: Non-bailable warrants issued against 22, including wanted accused Hafeez Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, who are absconders.

June 25: Kasab suffering from stomach ulcers, court told.

July 20: Kasab pleads guilty before Judge Tahaliyani.

Nov 30: S.G. Abbas Kazmi removed as Kasab's lawyer.

Dec 1: K.P. Pawar officially takes Kazmi's place.

Dec 16: Prosecution completes case in 26/11 terror attack.

Dec 18: Kasab denies all charges.

2010:

Feb 11: 26/11 lawyer Shahid Azmi shot dead.

Feb 22: David Coleman Headley issue crops up in court.

Feb 23: Final arguments begin from March 9.

March 31: Arguments in the case end.

April 6: Home Minister R.R. Patil says the bodies of nine slain terrorists - lying in morgue for over 15 months - had been secretly disposed of.

May 3: Special Judge M.L. Tahalyani pronounces Kasab guilty of all charges, including murder and waging war against the Indian state. Co-accused Ansari and Sabauddin acquitted.

<h2>Kasab trial shows India governed by rule of law: Chidambaram</h2>

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) The trial of Ajmal Amir Kasab underlined that India was a "country governed by rule of law", Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Monday while expressing satisfaction at the verdict against the Pakistani terrorist in the 26/11 case.

"The judgement is itself a message to Pakistan that they should not export terror to India. If they do, and if the terrorists are apprehended, we will be able to give them exemplary punishment," Chidambaram told reporters here after the ruling by Special Judge M.L. Tahalyani in Mumbai.

"We are satisfied that the trial of Kasab has ended in conviction. I compliment the investigating agencies and the prosecution for marshalling evidence that Kasab and his associates were guilty..."

While holding Kasab guilty, the court acquitted the two other accused -- Indians Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.

The acquittal, he said, showed the "independence and integrity" of the Indian judicial process.

He stressed that it had been an open trial and that Kasab had been given full opportunity to plead his case.

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