Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian national accused of playing a role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, has been extradited from the United States to India. Rana was arrested in the US in 2009 and convicted in 2011 for providing material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terror group, which carried out the Mumbai attacks. He had been fighting extradition since 2012, but the US Supreme Court ultimately denied his review petition, paving the way for his transfer to India. Rana will now face trial in India for his alleged role in the attacks, which killed 166 people.
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 26/11 special court has come down heavily on the prosecution and investigating agency for submitting "doubtful" and "fragile" evidence against accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed that led to their acquittal in the Mumbai terror attack case.
Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, arrested for their suspected involvement in the November 26 terror attacks in Mumbai, were on Thursday remanded in police custody till February 17 in connection with the murder of fishing boat MV Kuber's captain.
Describing Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed as "co-conspirators" in the 26/11 attacks, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam on Wednesday told the Bombay high court that the trial court had erred in acquitting the duo by giving them the benefit of doubt.
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.
The prosecution on Monday told the 26/11 trial court that accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed had provided maps of targets to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba to carry out attacks in Mumbai and insisted that both of them be held guilty, along with Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, for causing the death of 166 people.Faheem and Sabauddin had been commissioned by LeT leader Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi to prepare road maps of terror targets.
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.
A Mumbai court on Monday remanded Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed to police custody till January 23 in the November 26 Taj hotel firing case. Ansari and Ahmed, accused in the recent attacks in Mumbai, were produced before the court on Monday and remanded to police custody in the case registered at the Colaba police station in south Mumbai. They were arrested in February last year in connection with the attack on a Central Reserve Police Force camp in Uttar Pradesh.
Faheem Ansari, who was acquitted in the 26/11 terror attack case, was on Thursday produced before a sessions court here after the high court admitted an appeal filed by the state challenging his acquittal.
Describing it as "frivolous", the Bombay high court on Wednesday rejected a defence lawyer's petition seeking removal of Ujjwal Nikam as special public prosecutor in the 26/11 attacks case.
The Bombay High Court admitted an appeal filed by maharashtra government against the acquittal of Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 terror attack case and deferred till August 30 the hearing on confirmation of death sentence awarded to convicted terrorist Ajmal Kasab.
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.
The prosecution, led by advocate Ujjwal Nikam, has concluded its arguments in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks trial case. The prosecution said accused Ajmal Kasab, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed should be held guilty of the Mumbai terror attacks.
The Maharashtra government on Thursday faced some searching questions from the Supreme Court during hearing of its appeal against acquittal of two accused of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, which claimed 166 lives.
Terming Faheem Ansari as a co-conspirator in the 26/11 attacks, government counsel Ujjwal Nikam told the Bombay High Court that he had cheated the Pakistani government by procuring a passport in a fictitious name.
The trial of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested in the Mumbai terror attacks, will begin in the court at Arthur road Central jail on April 15, a special court said here today.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear the plea of Maharashtra government against the acquittal of two accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. A bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam, however, made it clear to the state government that it is a weak case.
Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam remains calm just a day before the special court trying 26/11 accused Ajmal Kasab, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Shaikh will deliver his judgment.
In a rare gesture, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil on Tuesday attended the trial proceedings in the 26/11 terror attack case along with Minister of State for Home Ramesh Bagwe, in a special court in Mumbai.Patil's visit assumes significance in the wake of the prosecution opening its final arguments against Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, and two Indian nationals Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.
A division bench of justices Ranjana Desai and R V More also reserved the verdict on the appeal filed by Maharashtra government against the acquittal of LeT suspects Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 case.
A sessions court in Mumbai has issued warrants against Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed asking the Uttar Pradesh police to produce the duo on September 23, as the Bombay high court has admitted state's appeal against their acquittal in the 26/11 terror attack case.
Advocate Ejaz Naqvi filed his 'vakalatnama' for Faheem on Monday. Till now, no lawyer has appeared for any of the four accused in the case.
A special court rejected the plea to make Pakistan-American terrorist David Headley a witness in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks case on Monday after the prosecution argued that he is one of the accused and part of a module, which had filmed targets in the city.
After Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam closed his arguments in the case, Judge Tahiliani informed that the court will record Kasab's statement on December 18.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the prime accused in the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year, has pleaded not guilty to charges framed against him by special court.Kasab, who is facing trial for 166 murders, also admitted that he was 21 years old. He had earlier claimed that he was a minor at the time of the attack and should be tried in the juvenile court. However, dental examination and ossification (bone) tests conducted on him had revealed that Kasab was not a juvenile.
On May 6, 2010, Special Court Judge M L Tahiliyani sentenced lone surviving Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasabto to death for his role in the 26/11 terror attacks, which rocked Mumbai, killing 166 people.
Faheem Ansari, charged with conspiracy in the 26/11 case, told the trial court on Tuesday that he had no links with the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and was being made a scapegoat by police. His lawyer R B Mokashi argued that police had not produced any material to show that Faheem was a terrorist and had connections with LeT which had allegedly carried out the attack.
Sabahuddin Ahmed, who had been charged with providing maps of 26/11 terror targets to terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, on Wednesday told the trial court in Mumbai that he was being falsely implicated in the case by the Mumbai police. "I have nothing to do with 26/11 terror attacks," Sabahuddin said.According to a witness, Ansari had given maps of likely targets of the Mumbai terror attack to Sabahuddin in Nepal for forwarding them to the LeT.