Chargesheet into 26/11 terror attacks within 2-3 days

Mumbai, Feb 22 (PTI) The chargesheet in the November 26
Mumbai terror strikes, which claimed over 180 lives during the
three-day long siege, is likely to be filed in 2-3 days with
the city police giving final touches to it.

"Final touches are being given to the chargesheet and
will be filed within two to three days before the magistrate,"
special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam told PTI.

The chargesheet will be filed before a metropolitan
magistrate, who will then transfer the case to the special
court constituted inside the high security Arthur Road jail.

The special court, presided by judge M L Tahilyani, has
been constituted to conduct the trial against Mohammad Amir
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist, he said.

Kasab will face charges ranging from murder, attempt to
murder and theft to waging war against the country, official
sources said.

Apart from the nine terrorists killed in the stand-off
with security forces, the chargesheet may also name Yosuf
Muzzamil and Zaki-ur-Rehman, both Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)
members, who allegedly handled the operation from Pakistan.

Their names, if it figures, will be against column two
of the chargesheet (those who could not be brought for trial)
which will enable the police to seek a non-bailable warrant
against them and subsequently an Interpol Red Corner Notice.

Kasab is presently lodged at the Arthur Road prison. "His
confessional statement was recorded before the magistrate in
the Esplanade court between Wednesday and Saturday last week,"
a crime branch official said.

Kasab was earlier also kept at the Arthur road prison for
a few days in December last year, where around 40 witnesses
were summoned to identify the terrorist.

The Mumbai police has decided to club all the 12 cases
registered on the intervening night of November 26 and
November 27.

Over 180 people were killed and around 300 injured in the
attacks on November 26 by ten terrorists at Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus, Hotels Taj and Trident and Nariman house in
south Mumbai. PTI SP