Forgiving the convicted Pakistani terrorist, the American survivors of 26/11 terror attack on Thursday said death penalty is not a solution for Ajmal Kasab, instead he could be rehabilitated.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore speaks to Vaishali, daughter of Assistant Sub-Inspector Tukaram Omble, who lost his life while tackling Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, a day after the Pakistani terrorist was hanged to death.
The hanging of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab in a Pune jail comes a day after India opposed a UN General Assembly draft resolution which sought abolition of the death penalty, with New Delhi arguing that capital punishment in India is exercised in case of a crime so heinous that it "shocks" the conscience of society.
Former Home Secretary of India, G K Pillai tells rediff.com that the team that would visit India would go about their job and that the hanging would have no impact on the visit.
Denying his role in the 26/11 attacks at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Railway Terminus, Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab on Friday told the Bombay high court that police had cooked up a story to falsely implicate him in the crime.
During Saturday's proceedings, Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan declared 14 other suspects linked to the attacks -- including Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive by Indian authorities during the strikes -- as "absconders," sources said.
As the lone surviving perpetrator of the Mumbai terror attacks Ajmal Kasab filed a mercy petition before the President against his death sentence, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday sought to know if the government would delay his execution for "vote-bank politics" or deal with it on a priority basis.
Ajmal Kasab, the Pakistani terrorist convicted for the 26/11 attack, told the Bombay high court on Wednesday that he had no objection to the state opening arguments on confirmation of death sentence awarded to him for his role in the carnage that killed 166 people.
"The appeal has been drafted and is in final stages of preparation...We are giving finishing touches," advocate Amin Solkar, appointed by the Maharashtra Legal Aid Committee on a directive of the High Court to defend Kasab, told PTI.
Also, there are many other important aspects of evidence, which the prosecution has to adduce to expose terrorist infrastructure of perpetrators of the crime, he said, adding they will not let Kasab succeed in his 'motive' of escaping with lesser punishment.
The hanging shifts focus to bringing the 26/11 masterminds to justice. Vicky Nanjappa reports
A jail in Bihar has offered to supply its famous 'manila' rope to hang Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege on Mumbai, who was awarded the death sentence by a special court on Thursday.Buxar prison is the only jail in the country that has expertise in manufacturing wax-coated manila rope, which can withstand the tension caused by the fall of the convict after the execution.Manufacturing a manila rope is a tedious affair.
Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi tendered an unconditional apology, on Friday, to the trial court hearing the Mumbai attack case for his remark that he did not care about affidavits of witnesses filed by the prosecution.
Terming the Supreme Court order upholding Ajmal Kasab's death sentence in Mumbai attacks case as "inevitable", Law Minister Salman Khurshid rejected suggestions of delay in the final verdict saying a country governed by rule of law cannot mete out street justice.
After a series of flip-flops, lone surviving 26/11 Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday sought to drag the Mumbai attacks case, saying he would like to be tried by an international court, but his plea was rejected by a special court in Mumbai.
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.
26/11 attacks prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam speaks about the unique trial of Ajmal Kasab and two other accused in the case.
Ajmal Kasab, the face of the dastardly 26/11 terror strike on Mumbai who was hanged on November 21, had begged for 'daya' (mercy) from the President through his four-line clemency plea written in elementary Urdu, which was rejected.
'The idea was not just to kill those hundreds of people,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Sheela Bhatt, 'the idea was to provoke people against Muslims. It is really shocking that Pakistan is in denial about what happened in Mumbai.'
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistan-born Canadian national and close associate of David Coleman Headley, could be extradited to India in connection with the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. Rana's travel history in parts of north and south India before the attacks in 2008 is expected to provide crucial leads for the investigation. His extradition would mark the third person to be tried in India for the attacks, after Ajmal Kasab and Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal.
After facing trial in the Mumbai attack case for nearly six months, the lone surviving Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday said he had 'no faith' in Indian court and made a dramatic plea for transfer of the case to an international court.
Rebel Shiv Sena MLAs who support Shinde returned to Mumbai from Goa on Saturday evening on the eve of the Assembly session, and were lodged in a luxury hotel in south Mumbai, where Vidhan Bhavan, venue of the floor test, is located.
Escorting of Mumbai terror attack convict Mohammed Ajmal Kasab to the city by air was mulled but later it had been shelved as road transport was considered as the safest mode to shift him to the Central jail in Pune, a senior police official said.
Survivors of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack have expressed happiness over the hanging of Ajmal Kasab, the sole surviving terrorist from the 26/11 terror attack.
The retraction of confession by Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist arrested during the terror strike in Mumbai last year, will not have any effect on the ongoing trial in the case, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told mediapersons on Friday.Nikam made the comments in the wake of Kasab -- who deposed for the first time today -- claiming that he was arrested by the Mumbai police days before the 26/11 terror strike and his confessions had been taken by force.
Defending Ajmal Kasab, the prime accused in the Mumbai terror attacks case, has been a difficult assignment for his lawyer Abbas Kazmi, who has complained about the lack of privacy during discussions with his client. Asked about how Kasab came across during these discussions, he said, "We talk only about the case and its legal aspects. He has never opened up or conveyed his feelings." Kazmi claimed there was no evidence to show that Kasab was a habitual criminal.
Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab has complained to the 26/11 terror trial court that food given to him in jail is laced with tranquilisers but medical experts have said there is no truth in his allegations, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in Mumbai on Wednesday.
A Pakistan court declaring Ajmal Kasab an absconder and issuing a non-bailable warrant against him have proved beyond doubt that the gunman is a Pakistani and had taken part in 26/11 Mumbai attacks, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Monday.
'We met more than 250 prisoners at random and Kasab was one amongst them,' Eknath Khadse said, trying to pacify the BJP's ally in the state, the Shiv Sena, who has taken umbrage to the visit.
Pakistan will not act on the request for legal aid by Ajmal Amir Iman, the lone gunman captured for the Mumbai attacks, unless it is proved that he is a Pakistani national, interior ministry chief Rehman Malik has said.
The police were able to ascertain that 26/11 accused Jundal and Kasab were together during the preparatory stages in Pakistan and when the operation was being launched. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Over 100 terrorists, including high-value targets such as Yusuf Azhar, Abdul Malik Rauf and Mudasir Ahmed, were eliminated during Operation Sindoor on May 7, the Indian military said on Sunday.
India's Constitution and criminal laws have a provision where an accused -- even in a trial court -- could seek the option of defending himself. In terrorism-related cases, this option was last taken by Parliament attacker Afzal Guru.
Nikam, who has an enviable track record of securing death penalty for 37 accused and life term to 627 in his career spanning over three decades, is confident that Kasab, the lone 26/11 gunman captured, will be punished despite his repeated attempts to "misguide" the court.
"He was a hero and will inspire other fighters to follow his path," Reuters quoted a commander of the LeT, which is accused of masterminding the attack, as saying.
Ever since the trial began in May, Kasab, a fourth standard dropout of an Urdu medium school, has been keenly observing the proceedings and picked up bits of English and even Marathi as witnesses, lawyers and the judge speak in these languages although the evidence is recorded in English.
Pakistani gunman and prime accused in the 26/11 terror attack case, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, is not keeping well since the last few days and was on Wednesday sent back to his cell by the court in the midst of the proceedings
Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab on Monday claimed he was not part of the 26/11 attacks conspiracy hatched in Pakistan by Lashkar-e-Tayiba and argued his confession recorded by a magistrate and plea of guilt made before the trial court should be discarded as they were contrary to each other.
Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the captured terrorist in the 26/11 attacks, has revealed that he and the nine other terrorists were confined to a house in Karachi for 45 days, where Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative Abu Hamza taught them how to navigate a boat.
Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving 26/11 gunman, continued to throw his tantrums before the Bombay high court, which is hearing arguments on confirmation of death sentence awarded to him in the Mumbai attacks case. A day after spitting on the camera after an argument with prison guards and demanding that he should be physically produced in the court, Kasab on Wednesday refused to appear via video link before the HC.
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