NIA had charge-sheeted Abu Jundal for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror activities in India, which includes the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks which killed 166 people in 2008. (File Photo)
Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Abu Jundal, a mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, today asked a Delhi court to shift him to Delhi on completion of trial in an ongoing case in Mumbai, and the case in Delhi should not be conducted through video conferencing to enable him to consult his lawyer.
Jundal alias Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari, who is currently in Mumbai's Arthur Road Jail, was produced before the court in Delhi through video conferencing where he requested the judge that he be shifted to Delhi for proceedings in the case pending in Delhi.
He told District Judge Amar Nath that trial in the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case in Mumbai, in which he is also an accused, was nearing an end and he should be brought to Delhi after that so that he can consult his counsel MS Khan for his defence in the case.
The court had last month allowed a plea of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) seeking to conduct the proceedings in the case through video-conferencing after the agency apprehended threat to Jundal's life.
The proceedings in the case in which NIA had chargesheeted Jundal for allegedly conspiring to carry out terror activities in India have been stalled since May 2013 as Jundal was not produced before the court in Delhi.
The court, after hearing Jundal's submission, fixed the matter for November 5 for arguments on charges in the case.
In its application filed earlier before the court, NIA had said that Jundal cannot be produced in Delhi as the Maharashtra government, in its May 2013 resolution, apprehends that he could be assassinated or kidnapped by rivals during his transit from jail to court.
NIA has chargesheeted Jundal for offences punishable under the IPC and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly attempting to recruit men through the internet for the banned LeT and conspiring to carry out terror activities in India.
Jundal is one of the masterminds of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in which the lone convict Ajmal Amir Kasab was hanged. Jundal was said to be one of the persons directing the terrorists during the attacks from a so-called 'control room'.
In its charge sheet filed against Jundal, NIA had alleged that in and around 2005, Jundal, along with his absconding associate Faiyaz Riyaz Ahmad Kagzi, had joined LeT.
He did three training courses in LeT training camps and came in contact with LeT top operatives, including its chief Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah, NIA had said in its charge sheet.