Witness identifies blankets, jackets of 26/11 case suspects

Mumbai, June 3 (PTI) More than 100 articles, including
blankets and jackets, of 10 Lashkar-e-Toiba operatives who had
unleashed terror in the city on November 26 last year, were
Wednesday identified by a witness in a special court.

The evidence of this witness is considered significant
because the DNA samples of 14 blankets and 15 jackets had
matched with the DNA of these terrorists including Pakistani
gunmen Ajmal Kasab, said special public prosecutor Ujjwal
Nikam.

The witness, Gorakh Nalawade, in whose presence the
articles were seized, said altogether 145 articles were
recovered from the marine vessel 'Kuber'.

The prosecution has alleged that the terrorists had
hijacked M V Kuber midway from Karachi (Pakistan) and reached
the shores of Mumbai on November 26 to strike terror.

As Nalawade was identifying all the articles one by one,
Kasab, sitting in the dock, watched with keen interest.

Looking at Kasab, Judge M L Tahaliyani told prosecutor
Nikam in lighter vein, "He (Kasab) is watching so carefully as
if he has seen these articles for the first time."

Nikam replied, "Kasab must be looking to find out which
jacket or blanket was his (own)".

Hearing this, Kasab smiled but once again continued to
watch the articles being identified by the witness.

Some articles identified by Nalawade were labelled 'made
in Pakistan', strengthening the prosecution's case that the
terrorists had come from the neighbouring country.

The articles manufactured in Pakistan were washing
brushes, empty Mountain Dew aerated water bottles and bags
carrying labels 'Pakistan white refined sugar'. A paper bag of
wheat flour carried the label of 'Hari Atta Chakki', Qamar
food products, Shah Faisal Town, Karachi.

The witness also identified eight empty diesel cans of 55
litres capacity on which were scribbled 'Made in Pakistan'.

Prosecutor Nikam told the court that Pakistan had sent a
query to India asking how could the suspects have come from
Karachi to Mumbai by sea without refuelling their vessel?

"The answer to this query is that the terrorists were
carrying diesel cans and had used this fuel in M V Kuber to
reach Mumbai coast," Nikam said.

The address on the cans was "Karachi head office, plot no
8, Sulaagh Kong Industrial area, Karachi, Pakistan".

The witness also identified tooth brushes, toothpaste,
shaving cream, a tube of dental medican brand, three empty
packets of Nestle Milk powder found on board M V Kuber.

The witness said a sample of soil was collected from
Kuber's deck. He identified a pouch containing the sample.

Prosecutor Nikam said soil sample had been sent to
forensic experts who said that traces of RDX were found from
the soil. This indicated that terrorists had carried with them
RDX and used them to cause explosions. PTI SVS
JVN