Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani terrorist involved in the 26/11 attacks, smiled, yawned and scratched his head showing no signs of remorse as the state opened arguments in the Bombay High Court on Monday for the confirmation of his death sentence.
Government counsel Ujjwal Nikam, while giving details about the barbaric acts of Kasab and nine others who came from Pakistan to strike terror in Mumbai, said "the 26/11 attack was an act of state-sponsored terrorism and was executed by Lashkar-e-Tayiba with the aid of security apparatus of that country".
The arguments began in court 49 before Justice Ranjana Desai and Justice R V More through video conference to enable Kasab hear the proceedings from the Central Jail where he is imprisoned in the high security bomb and bullet-proof cell. 23-year-old Kasab, who appeared on a big screen sharp at 11 am, seemed to be uninterested in the proceedings as most of the time he was seen smiling and yawning. At times, he scratched his head, played with the button of his prison uniform and stretched his arms. During the first half of the hearing, Kasab sought permission to go to the washroom. He gestured at jail staff who informed the court which allowed him.
This is for the first time that arguments on confirmation of death sentence are being heard through video conference in the Bombay High Court, legal sources told PTI. The entire high court building was converted
On May 6, the trial court had awarded death sentence to Kasab. In accordance with law, death penalty was referred to the high court for confirmation. Nikam said a heinous conspiracy was hatched in Pakistan by LeT to destabilise India, wage war against the country and cause financial losses by organising terror attacks in Mumbai in November, 2008, in which 166 persons from India, UK, USA, Israel and other countries were killed. He said the ten terrorists were trained in Pakistan and left Karachi for Mumbai by boat. Midway, they hijacked the M V Kuber and killed captain Amarsinh Solanki. They landed at Badhwar Park in south Mumbai and went to different places in separate batches to execute the terror attacks.
Kasab and Abu Ismael took a taxi and planted a bomb before getting down at CST where they fired indiscriminately at people, killing several. The taxi bomb exploded at Vile Parle in which the driver and a lawyer were killed. The duo then entered nearby Cama Hospital and killed a police officer and a constable while injuring few others. Outside the hospital, they shot dead top police officers, Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamate and Vijay Salaskar.
