Eye witness says he saw Kasab, nine others arrive by boat

Mumbai, May 27 (PTI) In what could be a crucial evidence
in the Mumbai terror attack case, an eye witness Wednesday
identified Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab in the
court saying he had seen him (Kasab) and nine others arrive by
a boat at Cuffe Parade sea shore on November 26 last year.

The prosecution's case got a boost with his deposition as
he is the first independent eye-witness to have seen the ten
gunmen arriving in the city before they carried out the terror
strikes at various locations in south Mumbai.

Another witness identified the rubber inflatable boat by
which the terrorists had arrived here from Pakistan. The boat,
tied with ropes, was brought to the court by three persons.

"Kyon Kasab yeh wohi boat hai jisme tum log yahan aaye
the (Is this the same boat in which you and the others had
arrived)," asked Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

Kasab responded with a smile but keenly watched the
witness who identified the boat. Most of the time he wore a
serious look.

Earlier, eye witness, Bharat Tamore said he had seen
Kasab and others getting off a boat at Fishermen's Colony in
south Mumbai when he was going for his duty at around 2115
hours to hotel Taj Mahal where he is employed as a supervisor.

When he asked them "tum kahan se aa rahe ho? (where are
you coming from)", one of them replied that they were students
while another said, "Tumhe kya karna hai (why are you asking
us)", Tamore told the court.

The witness said that of the ten persons who came by the
boat, eight alighted and started walking away fast while the
remaining two sailed off towards the nearby Nariman Point.

The person who told him he was a student was short in
height, the witness said. Asked if he was present in the
court, the witness pointed at Kasab.

Kasab stood up and looked at the witness. The witness
said the gunman was among the ten who claimed to be students.

The witness said he had identified Kasab in an earlier
identification parade in Arthur Road Jail conducted by police.

The other person, who had asked Tamore (witness) to mind
his business, had been killed by armed forces in an encounter,
the witness said, adding that he had identified his body.

On November 26, the witness said, he reported for duty at
the Hotel Taj, one of the sites of the terror strikes, but on
reaching there found that there was a shootout on between
police and terrorists and took refuge in the basement.

The next day when he returned home he saw the police at
the Fishermen's Colony talking about a boat.

"I told them I had seen the boat and ten people getting
off. Police then recorded my statement," he told prosecutor
Nikam.

The prosecution's case is that the ten gunmen had left
Karachi by a vessel, Al-Hussaini, and hijacked fishing vessel
M V Kuber. When they were close to Mumbai, they killed Kuber's
navigator Amarsingh Solanki and sailed to the city's shores on
a rubber inflatable boat.

Another witness, Prashant Dhanu, a fisherman, identified
the boat saying this was abandoned at Nariman Point. He and
his friends towed the boat and gave it to the police.

The prosecution has alleged that two of the ten
terrorists had abandoned the Aboat at Nariman Point and gone to
hotel Oberoi to carry out the terror strikes.

An employee of a Yamaha dealer also deposed as a witness
saying that the engine fitted to the boat was Japanese.
However, it was not imported from India (indicating that the
terrorists may have brought them from Pakistan as per the
prosecution's case).

Kasab and two others have been charged with involvement
in November 26 terror strikes in which over 160 were killed
and more than 200 injured.

Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has so far examined 30 witnesses.
PTI SVS