MUMBAI: Ajmal Amir Qasab, the lone terrorist captured alive during the Nov. 26 terror attacks in Mumbai, was yesterday charged with 86 counts, including waging war against India.
The special court, hearing Mumbai terror attack cases, fixed 86 charges that Qasab will face. The charges include murder and possessing weapons and explosives. Qasab, however, pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
If convicted, he can face death penalty for the charges framed against him and 37 others, including two Indians Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.
Ansari and Ahmed — the two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists — are accused of involvement in conspiring to carry out the Mumbai terror attack Nov. 26, 2008, that left over 179 people dead.
The trial was delayed last month after Qasab’s lawyer Abbas Kazmi argued that his client was not an adult and should be tried in a juvenile court. However, yesterday Qasab told the court that he was a Pakistani and was 21 years old.
Ujjwal Nikam, the special public prosecutor, said, “I am very glad to say that the cat has finally come out of the bag. Eighty-six charges have been framed against him.”
“Qasab has said in the court that he is 21 years old? (he) is not a kid,” Nikam told reporters as soon as he emerged from the court premises in the high security Arthur Road Jail. The accused “had been trying to mislead the court,” he said.
Kazmi said he doesn’t doubt that Qasab is a Pakistani national. “I accept he is a Pakistani national. According to him, he is innocent and has pleaded non guilty,” Kazmi told reporters. Kazmi quoted Qasab as telling the court: “I claim to be tried.”
Kazmi added that Qasab had “accepted the court’s decision that he was 21 years old” although he maintained that Qasab was 17-and-a-half and hence a juvenile.
The court accepted the 86 of the 312 charges the police had levied against the main suspect of the Mumbai carnage, which include plotting the conspiracy and possessing explosives.
“The prosecution today framed 86 charges against the accused, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges,” Nikam told reporters. The charges range from waging war to hijacking a boat that carried the attackers to Mumbai. Qasab faces the death penalty if found guilty.
Police say Qasab was one of 10 gunmen who landed in Mumbai by boat from Pakistan and rampaged through several of the city’s landmarks including the main train station, two luxury hotels and a Jewish center over three days.
Judge M.L. Tahilyani explained the charges to Qasab in Hindi and asked him if he understood, Nikam said. When asked how he pleaded, Qasab said he was not guilty. “All the charges are wrong. I do not accept them. I am not guilty,” Qasab told the court.
The prosecution will now begin to present its evidence and witnesses in each of the cases against the accused, Nikam said. The prosecution has said it has more than 1,800 witnesses and more than 750 pieces of evidence.
The attacks on India’s financial hub sparked renewed tensions between India and Pakistan, with New Delhi saying state agencies were involved in the attacks. Pakistan has denied the charge.
The trial by a special court began April 15 in the heavily guarded Arthur Road jail premises, where Qasab was being kept in solitary confinement.
