Court to decide fate of Kasab, two Indians

Elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the Arthur Road Central jail where a special court would on Monday decide the fate of Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and two Indians for their alleged role in the 26/11 terror attacks.

“The prosecution has prepared a watertight case against all the three accused and we hope the verdict would be in our favour,” special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told PTI.

Kasab is facing the charge of killing 166 persons by indiscriminately firing and hurling hand grenades at various places on November 26, 2008.

Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, both Indians, are charged with drawing maps of targets and passing them on to Lashkar-e-Taiba to execute the diabolic terror attacks.

Among the places targeted by the terrorists were Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus, Nariman House, Cama Hospital, Hotel Taj Mahal, Hotel Oberoi-Trident and Metro junction. At some of these places, terrorists held siege for close to 60 hours before being killed by security forces in a pitched battle.

While Kasab was caught alive at Girgaum Chowpatty when he was trying to escape in a car, nine other gunmen were shot dead by police and security forces.

The three accused have been tried under the provisions of various acts including IPC, Bombay Police Act, Passport Act, Customs Act, Foreigners Act, Damage to Public Property Act, Railways Act, and Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

Defence lawyer K.P. Pawar said, “We have done our best to convince the court that Kasab is innocent and falsely implicated in the 26/11 terror attack case. Now it is for the court to decide.”

The Arthur Road jail has become a fortress with large number of police personnel posted at various vantage points on Sane Guruji Marg which has been made one way for the traffic movements.

Inside the jail, 200 Indo-Tibetan Border Security guards are providing security cover to Ajmal Kasab who held the city under siege with his associates at the behest of LeT for more than two days from November 26, 2008.

Kasab is lodged in a bullet and bomb proof cell which is covered by iron sheets from all sides. The court is also built with equally strong iron reinforcements to make it bullet and bomb proof.

The other two accused are lodged in separate cells elsewhere in the jail.

Special passes have been issued to media personnel, lawyers, court staff and family members of the accused for their entry into the court. There are at least three entry points where everyone is frisked thoroughly. Pens and cell phones have been prohibited inside the court.

The prosecution had filed a 11,000 page chargesheet against Kasab and two other accused and examined 658 witnesses during the one year-long trial described in legal circles as the fastest ever among the terror cases in India.