There is a long legal battle ahead of these two men. In both the Rampur and the IISc cases, charges are yet to be framed and the trial would commence once this is done. In addition, the two will also have to defend themselves against the special leave petition that will be filed by the Maharashtra government, before the Supreme Court.
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India is not entirely satisfied with Islamabad's version of the case, says Vicky Nanjappa
Indian investigators have found answers to many of the questions in the 26/11 attacks case based on the recent briefing with US investigation teams and the new charges filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation against suspected Lashkar terrorist David Headley.
A handwriting expert on Friday observed in a special court that markings shown on a map of 26/11 terror target spots recovered from slain terrorist Abu Ismail matched with specimen writings of accused Fahim Ansari, who is being tried along with Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab.
"The jail authorities were supposed to bring him to court on June 29 but they didn't because they did not want us to get the new chargesheet," his lawyer said, alleging that the UP Special Task Force does not want his client to get a fair trial.
'It was only after what happened that we started looking back into his files. And today, we have reason to believe that those maps had deeper meaning that anyone could have then imagined,' says UP ATS Deputy Inspector General Rajiv Krishna.
The FBI made the request through proper channels for questioning Fahim Arshad Ansari and Sabbauddin, members of the banned Lashker-e-Taiba, who were brought to Mumbai in December last year as a follow up to the probe into the 26/11 attack, official sources said.
The Maharashtra government informed the Bombay High Court that Faheem Ansari, acquitted in the 26/11 terror attack case, was denied a police clearance certificate due to ongoing suspicion of being a member of a banned terror organization. Ansari sought the certificate to operate an autorickshaw.
The sensational acquittal of 26/11 Mumbai terror accused Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed have raised many eyebrows. But for Fahim's family, the decision has simply reinforced their belief that he was innocent. Rediff.com's Krishnakumar P visits Fahim's house in Mumbai, and brings forth their reactions.
The option these two men have as of now is to seek the release order from the Mumbai court and then seek bail before the Uttar Pradesh court
Though the Mumbai police have sought for the custody of Sabahuddin first, Ansari's interrogation will be the key to the Mumbai terror attack case. While Sabahuddin played the role of a financer more than a plotter, Ansari is the man who did the recce in Mumbai and also prepared sketches of the locations that were attacked on 2/11/2008.
The Pakistan government has admitted to India that the passport obtained by 26/11 accused Fahim Ansari in a fake name was genuine but issued on the strength of bogus documents given by him, a senior official of the external affairs ministry said today.
The Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has failed on three occasions to get Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari a conviction in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case.
Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, acquitted in the 26/11 attacks case and currently lodged in Arthur Road jail, are yet to be shifted to Uttar Pradesh prisons as the Mumbai police have still not decided on their escorting team, sources said. Fahim and Sabauddin, allegedly involved in the terror attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Rampur in UP on December 31, 2007, were brought to Mumbai in December 2008.
On Monday, special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said that he would be recommending the state to initiate appeal against the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed before the Supreme Court.
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.
The Bombay high court has issued an arrest warrant against Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed after admitting the Maharashtra government's appeal against the lower court verdict acquitting the two in the 26/11 terror attack case. On May 3, 2010, Ansari and Ahmed were acquitted of all charges as Special Anti-terror Court Judge M L Tahaliyani said the evidence produced by the prosecution could not be relied upon.
Arrested in the Rampur Central Reserve Police Force camp attack case, Ansari now in the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad's custody --says he was trained in Pakistan and the deadly Mumbai attack was planned by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba.
The 26/11 trial is expected to take an interesting turn with the counsel for Fahim Ansari contemplating the inclusion of Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani's name as the main conspirator.
Fahim Ansari, one of the two Indians involved in the deadly Mumbai attacks, has moved the Mumbai High Court seeking to restrain the Federal Bureau of Investigation from interrogating him.
Former Mumbai Police Commissioner M N Singh, while sharing his thoughts on the verdict with rediff.com, said that at this stage the judgment looked very categorical and that one would have to read the judgment completely to give a fair view.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba, which undertook the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, sent out e-mails to all its operatives and supporters following the terror strike.
A Pakistani anti-terror court conducting the trial of Lashkar-e-Tayiba's Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six others accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks on Saturday dismissed the prosecution's application for naming Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari as 'proclaimed offenders' or fugitives.
The upholding of acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed Shaikh by the Supreme Court on Wednesday left Mumbai police's elite crime branch red faced after it linked the duo with the 26/11 attacks.
A Pakistani court reserved its decision on Monday, on a petition filed by authorities to challenge an anti-terrorism court's order rejecting a plea to declare Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari as fugitives. A Rawalpindi-based bench of the Lahore High Court comprising Justices Rauf Ahmed Sheikh and Hasan Raza Pasha reserved its decision after hearing arguments by the counsel for the Federal Investigation Agency, which had filed the petition on April 10.
The Maharashtra government's decision to appeal against the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin largely depends on India's interrogation of Lashkar operative David Headley.
In a new twist in the Mumbai terror attack case, Pakistan approached the Interpol on Saturday seeking Red Corner notices for arresting Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari, currently undergoing trial in India.
Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin, who were acquitted in the Mumbai terror attacks case recently, will soon be shifted from the Arthur Road jail in Mumbai to the central prison in Bareilly in connection with the 2007 attack on a Central Reserve Police Force group centre at Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.
Special Court Judge Madan Lakshmandas Tahilyani stunned the Mumbai police and public prosecutor Ujawal Nikam when he acquitted two Indian nationals Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin of all the charges in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case.
Although Headley has confessed to the FBI that he had conducted a recce of the targets in Mumbai, this is will not be enough to nail him in India. Only if Headley confesses the same details to Indian agencies can the confessions be used in the 26/11 case in India, said investigators
Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan made the observation after prosecution lawyers were unable to satisfy him on two key issues -- the serving of a non-bailable arrest warrant issued for Ansari and the receipt of written permission from India for sending a commission to interview key witnesses.
The Federal Investigation Agency has decided to pursue a petition filed in the Lahore high court to challenge an anti-terrorism court's decision not to declare Kasab and Ansari as fugitives.
The Lashkar wanted to bomb the BSE because it would cripple India's financial capital, Fahim Ansari told the Mumbai police.
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.
Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari, who are in the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad's custody, have revealed that the attacks were delayed because of fears that the operation had been compromised by Ansari's arrest and confessions, and also, because the terrorists could not procure enough weapons in time.
In a shocking move, the Anti-Terrorist team has sent just two police officers to bring two hardcore Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists -- Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin-- from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai as part of the investigations into the Mumbai attacks case.
Fahim Ansari is proving to be a vital link to the Mumbai terror attack and his interrogation has revealed that Mumbai was originally supposed to be struck in September 2008. Ansari who confirms that the entire Mumbai terror attack was planned and plotted by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba says that the operation was originally planned for September, but had to be postponed to November following his attack.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation team, which has sought access to all the 26/11 accused arrested by Pakistan, will try to cull more information about a key Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative called Yusuf Muzzamil.Muzzamil's role in the terror attack in Mumbai last November was revealed by Fahim Ansari, Sabahuddin, and Ajmal Kasab.They described Muzzamil as a being extremely tech-savvy, adding that he had pointed out possible terror targets using Google Earth.
Sabahuddin, the prime accused in the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur and the attack on the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, has confessed to playing a pivotal role in the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. Ansari, a Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative, had conducted the recee before the actual attack, Sabahuddin told the interrorgators. He also confessed that the attack was carried out by the LeT and launched from Pakistan.
Suspected Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorist Fahim Ansari is the key to cracking the Mumbai terrorist attack case, investigators believe. Ansari who was arrested in connection with the Fidayeen attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Rampur on January 1, has given out a lot of details regarding the Mumbai terror plot.
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