312 charges drafted against Kasab

Mumbai:

The Mumbai police on Monday proposed to the special sessions court that 312 charges be framed in the 26/11 trial against Ajmal Amir Kasab, co-accused Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed, the 35 wanted accused (all stated to be in Pakistan), and the nine killed attackers.

Submitting the draft charges, the prosecution argued that all the acts committed by the accused and wanted accused were part of a criminal conspiracy hatched in Pakistan to commit murder, wage war on India and topple the state administration with a view to capturing Kashmir.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said, “These charges are distinct. For each offence committed, a distinct charge has been made out after a thorough study of the entire evidence collected by the police.” The draft charges state the accused were all members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and between December 2007 and November 2008 they had entered into a criminal conspiracy and/or were members of the said criminal conspiracy whose object was to wage war against the Government of India.

Nikam said the objective of these terrorists was to organise camps in Pakistan to impart training to youths in handling arms, ammunition and explosives for attacking important locations in the metro cities in India, destabilise the government by engineering violence in various areas, weaken India’s economic might, kill foreign nationals in India to deter foreign citizens from either investing in India or keeping relations with India, and adversely affect harmony between Hindus and Muslims in India.

The draft charges that run into over 150 pages includes all the acts committed by the accused. The charges, Nikam said, are “not only to prove the case against Kasab but also with an aim to hit upon the root of terrorism being spread from Pakistan”.