Kasab pleads guilty, seeks verdict

Mumbai, July 20 (PTI) In a dramatic turn of events,
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the November 26
Mumbai terror attack, Monday pleaded guilty to his role in the
crime and sought a quick end to the trial, a development that
came as a major boost to the prosecution.

"I plead guilty," the 22-year-old Pakistani national
told the Special Court in the Arthur Road jail here trying him
for various charges including the shooting in the Chhatrapati
Shivaji Terminus (CST) railway station that killed over 50
people and injured 90 others on November 26 last year.

The prosecution and the police were surprised over the
sudden turn of events and Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal
Nikam described Kasab's decision as a "new tactics for lesser
punishment".

He said the confession was a big victory for
the prosecution. "The cat is out of the bag", he added.

Equally surprised was Special Judge M L Tahiliyani,
who has been conducting the trial from April 17 who asked him
why were you suddenly confessing. "Why did you not confess
when the charges were framed earlier"

Kasab, who did his confession in two sessions, said
"initially Pakistan had not accepted my nationality. Now that
they have, I am confessing".

"Now now that I have confessed, end the trial and give
the verdict," he told the judge.

The confession, tracing the events from his training
in Pakistan by the handlers there and his journey into Mumbai
through the sea, came on the 65th day of the trial and two
days after Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency had filed a
chargesheet in a Rawalpindi court naming Kasab as its
national. He had earlier pleaded not not guilty and claimed
he was a minor.

It came after a very brief consultation with his
lawyer Abbas Kazmi as the prosecution's 135th witness stepped
into the box for giving evidence.

The Special Judge heard Kasab owning up his
involvement in the attacks in CST and the nearby Cama hospital
in south Mumbai and later killing three policemen apart from
planting a bomb in taxi.

Nikam said Kasab did not not utter the name of
Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafeez Mohd Saeed even once during the
confession Monday though he had earlier confessed to the
magistrate all the details about Saeed.

However, Kasab named LeT operations commander
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and other professionals having trained
them in Pakistan for terrorist activities. He also claimed
that the trainers were themselves not not aware for what
mission they were being trained.

In a significant statement, Kasab named an Indian Abu
Jindal as involved in the terror conspiracy. This is for the
first time that Kasab has confessed aboutthe role of an Indian
in the terror attack.

Even in his statement before a magistrate and the
police, Kasab had not revealed about Jindal or any other
Indian.

He said Jindal trained him and the nine other slain
terrorists on how to speak Hindi during their training course
in Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) camps in Pakistan.

Commenting on this, special public prosecutor Ujjwal
Nikam said that Kasab is deliberately making this statement.

"He has some designs in making such a confession
because earlier he had never disclosed the involvement of any
Indian. I strongly suspect that he is not telling the truth,"
Nikam said.

The court is yet to decide on whether or not it is
going to accept Kasab's confession, Nikam said.

Kasab admitted that he came in a boat from Karachi
along with nine other terrorists to carry out the dastardly
acts on the night of November 26 in four places including the
iconic Taj and Oberoi Hotels.

In the witness box, Kasab described how he and slain
terrorist Abu Ismail opened fire at the CST station.

"I was firing and Abu was hurling hand grenades. I was
in front of Abu who had taken such a position that no one
could see him. I fired at a policeman after which there was no
firing from the police's side)," Kasab told the court.

Kasab also told the court how he and Abu exited from
CST from a foot over bridge and proceeded towards the Cama
hospital.

Kasab was arrested on the night of November 26 at
Girgaum Chowpatty in South Mumbai in a police encounter while
his partner Abu Ismail was killed.

In the 11,000-page chargesheet, the Mumbai Crime
Branch cited 35 Pakistan nationals and operatives of
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as wanted accused in the case.

They include Zaki-ur-Rehman Laqvi, Yousif Muzammil,
Abu Kahfa, Abu Ramza and Zarar Sahh. It also includes the
names of two suspected armymen- Major General Saab and Colonel
R Saadat Ullah.

While confessing, Kasab described to the court how he
and Abu exited the CST and proceeded towards Cama hospital.

He said that he and Abu jumped the wall of Cama
hospital after which Abu asked him to wait there.

"Thode der baad Abu wapas aaya aur mujhe andar aane
ko kaha... andar gate ke paas ek lash padhi thi... (After
sometime Abu came back and asked me to come inside... Inside
near the gate there was a dead body)," Kasab said.

Kasab further said that inside, Abu conducted searches
on three persons and snatched their mobiles and bags.

One of the witnesses, Sriwardhan, an employee of
Mantralaya, was lying unconscious on the floor, Kasab said.

In his reaction, Nikam said he and the police
officials were surprised and shocked by Kasab's abrupt turn in
the "legal battle" that was launched on May 8.

He said Kasab's plea of guilt was not not recorded and
once the court takes on record, then he would give the views
of the prosecution and the government side.

"Kasab has accepted all the evidence given by the
witnesses," he said adding it was also the pressure of the
prosecution and police evidence that forced him to confess.

Nikam said Kasab was not not only a dreaded terrorist
but also a super actor who understood English, Urdu and Hindi
and had started understanding even Marathi during the last
four months. PTI SVS
PMR
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