Sunday, May 10, 2009

Witness identifies Mumbai suspect

The first witness in the Mumbai attacks trial has identified the lone surviving gunman, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, in court, the prosecution has said.

Police officer Bhaskar Kadam told the court he was at Girgaum Chowpatty sea front in south Mumbai on the night of 26 November 2008 when Qasab was caught.

Mr Qasab is charged on 86 counts, including waging war against India, murder and possessing explosives.

He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

More than 170 people died in the attacks, including nine gunmen.

Mr Qasab is the sole surviving suspected attacker.

Two Indians, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, are also on trial accused of being members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group and of scouting for the attacks.

They too have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit the same offences as Mr Qasab.

First witness

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the BBC that Mr Kadam described in court how a police officer, Tukaram Omble, had caught Mr Qasab.

Mr Omble was among the more than 20 police officers who lost their lives during the attacks.

Mr Kadam is the first witness to appear before the court.

His examination will continue on Monday, after which the defence lawyers will cross-examine him.

Mr Nikam had earlier told the court that the prosecution would examine witnesses and evidence in a sequence of events starting from Mr Qasab's arrest.

On Wednesday, the defendant confirmed his name to the court and said he was a labourer from Faridkot in Pakistan's Punjab province.

The presiding judge, ML Tahiliyani, read out the charges at the special prison court.

Mr Qasab said that he understood the charges against him.

If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

In an earlier hearing, the accused retracted a confession, saying it was coerced.

It will be up to the judge to weigh the evidence at the trial and decide whether the confession should be taken into account.

India has accused Pakistan-based fighters from Lashkar-e-Taiba of carrying out the attacks, which took place from 26-28 November.

Pakistan has admitted they were partly planned on its soil and the two countries have suffered seriously strained relations.

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