26/11 accused Qasab wants to retract his confession

Armed with a lawyer and a new strategy, Ajmal Qasab sprung a surprise on the very first day of the trial.

He applied to retract his confession, which had detailed the plot, the journey and the role of the terrorists. 

Abbaz Kazmi, his lawyer, said: "Qasab was tortured and coerced, forced into signing the confession."

This came shortly after the claim that he was just 17 and could not be tried by this court. An argument the judge did not entertain.

The judge still has decide whether to allow the confession to be withdrawn. But the fact is in this case, it may not make a difference given the volume of evidence already with the police. But it does show that Qasab is likely to fight it out and plead not guilty.

Just hours earlier, the prosecution had read out Qasab's confession in court.

In it, a startling revelation that the ultimate aim of the terrorists was to capture Jammu and Kashmir.

* That a Pakistani army general was involved in the conspiracy.

* And that Qasab's handlers had instructed him to seek out and kill Israeli, British and American citizens.

* The ultimate aim was to capture Jammu and Kashmir.

* A Pakistani army general was involved in the conspiracy.

* Qasab was told to target  Israeli, British and American citizens.

Says Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam: "They waged a war against India with the ultimate object of capturing Jammu and Kashmir. The entire nation was target not just Mumbai."

Interestingly, before retracting his statement Qasab had given the judge clarifications on the statement being read out.

Like when asked why he was taught how to fish, he replied so that they could pretend to be fishermen and fool the Indian Navy.

Till now in court Qasab seemed aimless. Now it is clear his lawyer is taking his job seriously. And what seemed to be an open and shut case is set for more courtroom drama.