Mumbai:
The Mumbai Police has taken voice samples of alleged 26/11 handler Zaibuddin Ansari, also known as Abu Jundal. These samples will be sent to Mumbai Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for a voice test that will help ascertain if it was indeed his voice that the Mumbai Police intercepted on the fateful night of 26/11.
"We made him utter the same words that he had used during the 26/11 attack while directing and guiding the terrorists at Nariman House, so that the results are fool proof", an officer told NDTV on the condition of anonymity.
Jundal allegedly narrated the infamous line "Yeh toh bus trailer hai, picture baaki hai" which means that this is just the trailer, the picture is yet to be seen. Also he was heard using Hindi words like prashashan for government, instead of hukumat in Urdu. This was the first clue for the investigating agency that denoted that an Indian was present in the Pakistani control room. Voice identification will be the most clinching evidence against Jundal.
"We will be filing a separate chargesheet against him and the case highly depends on the voice test," adds the officer.
On July 21, the Esplanade court in Mumbai granted ten days custody to the Mumbai crime branch. Tomorrow when his custody ends the police will seek an extension.
"We need to confront him with Kasab but for that again we have to take Kasab in police custody as currently he is lodged at the Arthur Road Jail," says the officer. Kasab was awarded a death sentence by a lower court last year which was also upheld by the Bombay High Court. Kasab later moved the Supreme Court against the conviction. His plea is being heard by the apex court.
Kasab had told interrogators that Jundal taught them Hindi and also made them familiar with the landmarks of Mumbai. Jundal has also told the interrogators that he had trained Kasab and nine others to speak Hindi and also made them familiar with the roads of Mumbai. Mumbai Police is exploring the legal veracity of the confrontation.
"We have to check whether this will have any legal binding as Kasab is an accused; so whether statement of an accused against another holds any legal sanctity," said an officer.
Jundal was deported last month from Saudi Arabia after the CIA tracked his voice to a town in the Gulf country. A source in the intelligence agency told NDTV that Pakistani agencies did try their level best to deport him to Pakistan but India was able provide fool proof evidence and therefore he was sent to India. Indian authorities have recovered a Pakistani passport from Jundal.
Initially, he was remanded in the custody of the Delhi Police but since he was wanted in the 26/11 case, which is being probed by the Mumbai crime branch, and that is the most crucial case against him, a Delhi local court granted his custody to the Mumbai Police.
On July 21, two agencies of the Maharashtra Police staked claim to his custody - the Mumbai crime branch and the Mumbai ATS, but considering the gravity of the charges against him in the 26/11 attack, the chief metropolitan court remanded him to the custody of the Mumbai crime branch.