Kasab to be tried for 166 murders of 26/11

Mumbai, Apr 16 (PTI) Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone
arrested member of the 10 men Lashkar-e-Taiba squad that
wreaked havoc in India's financial capital Mumbai last year
could now be tried for 166 counts of murder, special public
prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said Thursday.

The prosecution in the 26/11 case has sought for Kasab to
be charged under 166 separate counts of murder along with the
two other accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.

Nikam told the special sessions court that Kasab is
responsible for the murder of 166 persons who lost their lives
in the three-day terror carnage on November 26 and thus the
charge under Section 302 of IPC is required to be framed
against him 166 times.

"Even though Kasab was actually not present at the time
of the firing incidents in hotels Taj and Trident, and Nariman
House, he can be held liable for the murders as one of the
co-conspirators," Nikam told PTI.

Kasab is currently lodged in a high-security special
cell in the Arthur Road jail here where he is being guarded
round the clock by a strong posse of nearly 300 special
commandos of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

The trial is long awaited since the Mumbai police filed a
voluminous charge sheet of over 11,000 pages.

Kasab, who Thursday got a new lawyer S G Abbas Kazmi, has
asked for a Pakistani lawyer to defend him after the judge
yesterday removed Anjali Waghmare as his counsel on a
complaint of professional misconduct. PTI SP
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