If Kasab's death sentence is carried out, he will become the 56th prisoner since independence to face the gallows. But India has as many as 309 prisoners on death row already, including six women.
The Pakistani court hearing the Mumbai terror attack case on Wednesday rejected the appeal for the acquittal of the seven suspects arrested in the case, including Lashkar-e-Tayiba's operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. The trial is being held at the high-security Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi.The court also turned down an application by lawyers of the seven accused.
The home ministry deliberately wanted to keep David Headley out of the 26/11 trial to expedite the verdict against Ajmal Kasab, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 trial Ujwal Nikam was visibly upset over a report published in a Mumbai daily.
The Bombay high court on Monday said it would deliver its verdict on February 21 on confirmation of death sentence awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for his role in the 26/11 terror attacks and also on his appeal against his conviction.
Mumbai terror attacks accused and Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday denied killing Maharashtra Anti Terrorism squad chief Hemant Karkare, and police officers Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar.
The trial in the Mumbai terror attack case opened on Friday with the sole surviving terrorist Mohammed Amir Ajmal Kasab seeking retraction of his confession and the prosecution hinting at Pakistan army's involvement in training him and the other terrorists, who were killed.
A senior home ministry official will appear as witness on Tuesday in a special 26/11 court to throw light on the sanction given to prosecute Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab and two others on the charge of "waging war against the nation".
Pakistan on Tuesday said the statement made to a magistrate by Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist captured for the Mumbai terror attacks, is crucial for the successful prosecution of suspects detained by it in connection with the incident.
Advocate K P Pawar, appointed to defend Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab in the 26/11 terror attack case, on Friday declined to cross-examine 22 witnesses, including three policemen, who were part of the anti-terror operation at the Cama hospital.
Lashker-e-Taiba's (LeT) operations head Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, has challenged his indictment in the 26/11case ,saying there is not enough evidence against him.
Has Tukaram Omble already been forgotten? Harish Kotian located the spot where the brave police officer laid down his life, almost isolated during the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks
Vinita Kamte, slain Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte's wife, reveals her struggle to unravel the truth about her husband's death on the night of November 26, 2008.
Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said on Tuesday that the National Investigation Agency has not approached the state government so far to question the 26/11 terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab on his possible links with alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives David Headley and Tahawwur Rana.
The chargesheet in the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror strikes, which claimed over 180 lives, is likely to be filed today. The charge-sheet will be filed before a metropolitan magistrate, who will then transfer the case to the special court constituted inside the high-security Arthur Road jail.
Lawyers of Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Tuesday urged the Bombay high court not to make him a martyr by hanging him even as the state justified capital punishment saying he had committed heinous crime against humanity by participating in the 26/11 attacks.
Souces point out that Abdul Al-Hooti could have done more than just providing SIM cards which were used during the Mumbai attack. With evidence against Al-Hooti in the Mumbai attack increasing, the Indian agencies say that apart from interrogating Headley on these lines, they would also be building a case to seek Al-Hooti's extradition from Oman.
Identifying Ajmal Amir Kasab as the 'prime suspect' in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan has formally requested India to hand over the lone terrorist captured alive during the terror strikes, to facilitate successful prosecution of other arrested accused. "The government of Pakistan has formally requested the Indian government to hand over the custody of Ajmal Kasab because he is the prime suspect," Deputy Attorney General Sardar Mohammad Ghazi said.
'The intelligence agencies have taken the three men into custody from different parts of Karachi because of their alleged affiliation with Kasab,' the Daily Times newspaper quoted a source as saying. The men were 'reportedly taken to Islamabad and an investigation was in progress', the newspaper reported. There was no official word on the development.
A Pakistani court conducting the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba operations chief Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in the Mumbai terror attack case on Saturday adjourned proceedings till May 22 after the prosecution sought more time to gain access to Ajmal Kasab, who was sentenced to death by an Indian court on Thursday. Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan of the Rawalpindi-based anti-terrorism court put off the case for two weeks after the prosecution filed an application.
The Maharashtra government has no immediate plans to shift Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, sentenced to death in the 26/11 attacks case, from the high-security Arthur Road jail to any other prison in the state.
Defence Minister A K Antony on Friday said the verdict against Ajmal Kasab in the Mumbai attacks case is a "clear message" to terror outfits in Pakistan and has proved that India can take strong action against criminals and terrorists.
Ajmal Kasab's execution, after he was sent to the gallows on Thursday, may not happen soon, but calls grew loud that he be hanged quickly, amid hopes that the Pakistani terrorist does not end up being on the death row 'waiting list'. Authorities were asked to show urgency in carrying out the death sentence awarded to the 22-year-old Pakistani terrorist. "I don't want any delay in hanging Kasab. I want fast track hanging of Kasab," said K Unnikrishnan.
Rediff.com provides a round up of the happenings outside Mumbais' special court in photographs.
"I am happy with the verdict of death being given to Kasab," said Eknath Omble, brother of assistant police sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, who died while trying to capture Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, on the dreaded night of November 26, 2008.
'It is not the individuals, but the system of propaganda and inducement of hatred that is to blame. And that suits the Pakistani establishment just fine: It sustains their failing State.'
A special court will hear arguments on Tuesday on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, who has been held guilty for the murder of 170 people in the 26/11 terror strikes in the financial capital of the country.
Hours after an Indian court convicted Ajmal Kasab for involvement in the Mumbai attacks, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh had told him that he trusted Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the carnage to justice.
For Lashkar-e-Taiba, Ajmal Kasab's conviction is nothing, but good news. At least that is what lawyers in Pakistan -- who defend the likes of Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi feel. "Kasab's conviction at Indian court means I have won the case of Lakhvi and other accused," a lawyer told rediff.com. Shahbaz Rajpoot, lawyer for Lakhvi and other accused said, "The verdict against Kasab has eased down my case, now there is no difficulty to prove my clients' innocence."
On the day of Ajmal Kasab's trial verdict, rediff.com's Nithya Ramani and Abhishek Mande visit the ill-fated hospitals and discover how staff members are coming to terms with 26/11
Fahim Ansari and Mohammad Sabahuddin Ahmed might have been let off by the Mumbai special court in the 26/11 terrorist attacks case on India's commercial capital, but they were clearly not off the hook in Uttar Pradesh, where cops were all set to nail them in an earlier attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur city, about 300 km from Lucknow.
Hailing the conviction of Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for the Mumbai terror attacks, Special Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Monday said the acquittal of two other accused in the case will be challenged in a higher court. "I am very happy (about the conviction of Kasab). But I regret the acquittal of two other accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed. The court has given them the benefit of doubt. We will challenge their acquittal," Nikam said.
Frequent U-turns by Ajmal Kasab marked the nearly year-long trial in the 26/11 terror attack case with the Pakistani gunman first confessing to his crime then retracting it before surprising all by making a guilt plea and then disowning his confession altogether.
Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said that the conviction of Ajmal Kasab and the acquittal of two local accomplices in the Mumbai attack case shows India is governed by the rule of law but sends a message to Pakistan that it should not export terror. "The court has convicted certain accused. It also acquitted two accused. That shows the independence, fearlessness and integrity of the court," he told reporters while reacting to the judgment of a Mumbai court.
The 26/11 trial turned out to be a learning exercise for Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab as well judge M L Tahaliyani, both of whom evinced keen interest in Marathi and Urdu languages respectively.
Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, convicted on Monday in the 26/11 terror attack case, may not be shifted from Arthur Road Prison for some time because of his 'high-risk' status and lack of comparable security in jails elsewhere in Maharashtra.
As sole 26-11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab awaits his fate, legal experts say that it may easily take upto a year before he could actually be hanged. If the sessions court or the special court decides to award him the death penalty, Kasab has three more options to fight his case.
Amid a general alert across Mumbai, a thick security blanket has been thrown in and around Arthur Road Jail where a special court will pronounce its verdict in the Mumbai terror attacks case tomorrow.
" Kasab has told us quite categorically where he comes from, where he received military and arms training and where his handlers are located. Unfortunately, despite this, we have seen a consistent flip-flop in the reaction of the government in Islamabad," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a gathering at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Chennai.
Pakistan has sought the Interpol's help to get custody of Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege on Mumbai in November, 2008, and his associate and fellow Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Fahim Ansari. Kasab and Ansari are being tried by a special anti-terror court in Mumbai for their role in planning and carrying out the 26/11 attack. The prosecution and defence lawyers have already presented their final arguments.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances