| The lone Mumbai attacks' surviving terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, was found guilty on Monday by a special court of 86 charges, including waging war against India and murdering Indians and foreigners.
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| The lone Mumbai attacks' surviving terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, was found guilty on Monday by a special court of 86 charges, including waging war against India and murdering Indians and foreigners. |
Meanwhile, two Indian nationals, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, accused of being members of Pakistani militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba and conducting reconnaissance in Mumbai before the attack, have been acquitted by the court.
The verdicts were pronounced nearly 17 months after kasab and nine other militants from Pakistan unleashed the massacre in the country's financial capital which claimed the lives of over 170 people.
The verdicts were read out by Judge M. L. Tahilyani of the special court, and the arguments on sentencing will begin on Tuesday.
The special court held the terrorist personally accountable for killing innocent people at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station and Cama Hospital, and also guilty of abetting murder at other scenes of the attack where his accomplices perpetrated killings.
Kasab was also held guilty of killing Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
The 653 witnesses interviewed by the court included many survivors of the terror attacks, eyewitnesses, family members of the victims, police officials, several foreign nationals, Indian security officials and officials from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Ten terrorists sneaked into Mumbai on Nov. 26, 2008 and unleashed 60 hours of mayhem that left over 170 people dead and 244 injured.
The terrorists had targeted several sites such as the World Heritage Building of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel, Hotel Oberoi-Trident, Cama Hospital and the Chabad House, a Jewish prayer center and Leopold Cafe, a favorite among foreigners.
However, Kasab's two Indian co-accused, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, were acquited by the special court for lack of evidence against the duo who were accused of conspiracy in the attacks and were alleged to have prepared the maps of terror targets and passed them on to Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar- e-Toiba (LeT), the sources said.
Twenty absconding accused include LeT leaders Hafeez Saeed and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
India has charged Kasab, a native from a family of butcher caste of Faridkot in Pakistan, with 302 crimes, for his role in the Mumbai massacre.
The Mumbai terror attacks trial is said to be the fastest in a terror case in India, which started on May 8, 2009. The special court has also recorded more than 3,000 pages of evidence after examining the witnesses, apart from Closed Circuit TV footage of the terrorists moving about with guns and firing at people in Mumbai.
Kasab is expected to be sentenced to death by hanging, although India rarely executes death convicts. |
