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.
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.
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.
India is not entirely satisfied with Islamabad's version of the case, says Vicky Nanjappa
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.
'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 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.
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 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.
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.
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 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 Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad has failed on three occasions to get Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari a conviction in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case.
The 60-page charge sheet, filed by the NIA on Saturday before a special court in New Delhi, details reconnaissance activities carried out by 50-year-old Headley of the targets attacked by Lashker-e-Tayiba terrorists on November 26, 2008 that left 166 people dead.
An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Saturday put off its ruling on a plea by prosecutors to declare Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving attacker involved in the 2008 Mumbai attack, and terror suspect Fahim Ansari as "proclaimed offenders" or fugitives till March 26.
The Maharashtra government on Monday decided to appeal against the Bombay high court's decision to acquit Sabahuddin and Fahim Ansari, who, according to the police, were the men who conducted a survey for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks
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.
The Maharashtra government, in its appeal againgst the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin, spells out various points but does not make a single mention about the role of David Headley in the case. It is extremely clear today that he had a big part to play in this horrific attack.
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 dismissed the prosecution's application for naming Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari as "proclaimed offenders" or fugitives on Saturday.
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.
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.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of the seven Mumbai terror attack suspects on Saturday issued fresh arrest warrants for Ajmal Kasab and Fahim Ansari. Judge Malik Muhammad Akram Awan, who is conducting the trial behind closed doors at the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for security reasons, heard arguments by the prosecution and the defence.
The most important factor is commitment to the Lashkar's ideology. When the Lashkar recruits youth the latter are told they will undertake a military operation and there is absolute need to be committed to the organisation's ideology in order to succeed.
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.
A course in accent training is something usually associated with Business Processing Outsourcing. However, investigations have now revealed that the Lashkar-e-Tayiba has been imparting accent training too to potential terrorists.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam handed over a sealed envelope to Judge M L Tahiliani during the ongoing trial into the Mumbai terror attacks. He sought the judge's permission to keep the identities of six FBI agents, who are likely to depose during the trial, a secret.
Lawyers for Lashkar-e-Tayiba's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six more accused in the Mumbai attacks case on Saturday demanded at an anti-terror court that Ajmal Kasab be brought from India to Pakistan to face trial with the other suspects.
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 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.
Following the clarification from Maria, Gaffoor sang a different tune, and said that what he had meant was that 16 persons were involved in the terror attacks. Nine of them were killed, one is in custody with us, two others have been arrested, and four handlers are based in Pakistan, he said
Ejaz Naqvi, counsel for Sabahuddin, told rediff.com that he would be filing a petition before the Supreme Court to make Headley a party to the proceedings before the Bombay high court, which is hearing a set of three appeals in connection with the 26/11 case.
The Mumbai police's crime branch says that Imran Shehzad also helped Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed conduct a survey of likely targets in Mumbai.
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.
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.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba runs a dedicated technology laboratory in Muzzafarabad, Pakistan occupied Kashmir. The lab has been operational for the past six years. It has a dedicated team, which imparts training to men chosen for terrorist operations.