Mumbai: He is a killing machine created in Pakistan, said the prosecution in court, demanding the death sentence for Ajmal Kasab. He was an impressionable 21-year-old who was used as a pawn and brainwashed into waging war against India, argued his lawyer.
What sort of man exactly is Kasab, the only survivor of the ten terrorists who seared their way through Mumbai during 26/11?
During his 11-month-long trial, he has giggled, even dozed off in the special court set up at Arthur Jail where he had a bulletproof cell attached to a bomb-proof underground tunnel.
Jail officials tell NDTV that in that cell, Kasab has occasionally displayed signs of being mentally disturbed, eating cement and scratching the walls for hours.
Policemen who've interacted with him say this is part of a shrewd strategy to avoid the death sentence. "He is a well-trained terrorist. He knows how to behave in different situations. His arrogance shows in his confession statement," says Ramesh Mahale, a senior investigating officer in the 26/11 trial.
Kasab was going calmly about his business, firing at passengers and shopkeepers at the Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), when photographer Sebastian d'Souza risked his life to catch Kasab on camera. Rush hour had ended by the time Kasab, and his partner, Abu Ismail, arrived at CST. In cargo pants, sneaker, a backpack, with an AK-47, Kasab was "like a king, he could do whatever he wanted. That day his eyes were fiery," recalls d'Souza.
When Kasab was confronted with those photographs months later in court, d'Souza says, "He knew this was real evidence going against him. He felt sick, didn't know what to do. He started telling the judge- 'I want to go back to my cell.' He started to cry."
Kasab's versions of his role in 26/11 became wilder as the trial progressed. In his confession recorded three months after his arrest, he was, policemen say, the most real they've known him to be. He talked about his small village in Faridkot in Pakistan, of a family desperate for money, of his indoctrination as a jihadi footsoldier.
Later, that confession was retracted. After killing close to 70 people at CST, Kasab and his partner, Abu Ismail, headed to Cama Hospital. There, they came across Mumbai's senior-most policemen who were headed to the hospital to help the patients and staff there. Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamte were killed. By Abu Ismail, insisted Kasab, later in court. With the bullets used to kill the officers severely damaged, there was no way to prove Kasab was wrong. He has not been convicted of their murders, a stress point for the Mumbai police.
"He has never accepted his part in what he has done. He passes the blame onto Ismail. He is smart guy, a well-trained terrorist," says Mahale.
On Monday, as Judge ML Tahiliyani declared Kasab guilty of more than 80 of the 86 charges against him, Kasab sat, unshaven, in a white kurta-pyjama, looking down. Forensic pscyhiatrist Dr Yusuf Matcheswala has met with the man who is India's most recognizable face of terror.
I feel there is some emotional upheaval happening, a breakdown happening...that my game is up, everything is going against me so better own up."
It's more complicated than that, says Ujjwal Nikam, who as the prosecutor in the 26/11 case, has a unique perspective. "Towards the end he has been very quiet but I will not go by his demeanour in court. He is a shrewd character, well-trained."