26/11 chargesheet filed; Kasab, Lakhvi named

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Posted by Snehsan

Three months after the unprecedented terror attack in Mumbai, a voluminous chargesheet was filed on Wednesday naming 38 people including Pakistani nationals Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and suspected mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi for crimes ranging from murder to waging war against the country. Indian nationals Fahim Ansari and Sabbauddin Ahmed, arrested in the case for allegedly carrying out a recee of the targets for the attacks, have been named in the chargesheet. They were produced in the court on Wednesday, PTI reported. Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, the suspected mastermind of the 26/11 carnage and believed to be hiding in Pakistan, and Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Yosuf Muzzamil are mentioned in the chargesheet as wanted accused in the case. The 11,500-page chargesheet was filed in the Esplanade court but Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist, was not produced before the court owing to security reasons, PTI report says. Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam filed the chargesheet before the metropolitan magistrate M J Mirza. Nikam told reporters, “38 people have been named in the chargesheet. We want the trial to end in three-six months. We will give the copy of chargesheet to Kasab.” According to TV reports, Nikam refused to reveal how many of them are Pakistanis. He said the court has fixed March 9 as the date of next hearing. Kasab and other accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code. They have also been charged with waging war against the country and offences under the Customs Act, Explosives Act and other Acts, PTI says.