Kasab guilty says 26/11 verdict, 2 Indians acquitted

Mumbai: Dressed in a white kurta-pyjama, with a stubble, Ajmal Kasab kept his head bowed as he heard the verdict in his trial: Guilty of waging war, murdering 7 people, and helping to kill 159 others in the 62-hour attack on Mumbai that began on 26/11/2008. Of the ten terrorists who arrived by boat to ravage Mumbai, only Kasab was caught alive. (Read: 26/11 Mumbai attack case: Kasab's trial)

Most of the 86 charges against the 22-year-old Pakistani were upheld. Kasab didn't say a word, not even to his lawyer, not even when the judge announced that on Tuesday, the court will discuss whether to give Kasab the death sentence. He left for his bullet-proof cell through the same bomb-proof underground tunnel that was constructed for him nearly a year ago at the Arthur Road jail. (Read:26/11 trial: Key moments | Kasab's flip flops)

"The judgement delivers message to Pakistan not to export terror. If they do, and we apprehend the terrorists, then we will bring them to justice," said Home Minister P Chidambaram. However, the verdict states that there is little to prove the direct involvement of men like Hafiz Saaed and Zakir Ur Rahman Lakhvi, who top India's list of most-wanted Pakistanis.

The guilty verdict for Kasab was a given, considering the catalogue of evidence against him. The real punch in Judge ML Tahilayani's 1500-page judgement lay in the acquittal of the two Indians co-accused of 26/11. Describing Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Shaikh as "blemish-free", the judge ripped into the Mumbai police for the case made against them. The Mumbai police had accused Ansari of preparing maps that he passed to Shaikh in Nepal, maps that were then allegedly shared with Pakistani handlers, and that, according to the police, were found with Abu Ismail, the Pakistani terrorist who partnered with Kasab in attacking first Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and then Cama Hospital on 26/11. Ismail was killed when Kasab was captured by the Mumbai police in the city's Girgaum-Chowpatty area a few hours later. (Read: Co-accused Fahim Ansari, Sahabuddin, acquitted) | (Read: Ansari, Ahmed 'framed' by prosecution, say Defence lawyers)

"Google maps are better than this," said the judge, tearing into the Mumbai police's evidence. The hand-drawn maps they presented in court are flimsy indeed, badly-drawn and impossibly bereft of the sort of detail or dimension that would make them the diagrams of terror that the Mumbai Crime Branch described them to be. (Read: Kasab village watches 26/11 judgement on TV)

Ansari and Shaikh were both arrested in 2008 in Lucknow a few months before 26/11. They were moved to Mumbai in December after the city was attacked for allegedly helping the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) plan the siege on Mumbai.

Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said he will appeal against their acquittal. "Prosecutors say there is enough proof against Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed. We will have to see why they were given benefit of doubt," added Maharashtra's Home Minister, R R Patil. The acquittal proves "the integrity of Indian courts," said Chidambaram. What it also does is considerably dilute the Mumbai police's claim that 26/11 was carried out with local assistance. (Read:What Kasab did to Mumbai | Mind of a terrorist)

JK Dutt was the head of the National Security Guard during 26/11. Guided by him, his commandos criss-crossed Mumbai, taking on the terrorists and rescuing hundreds held hostage. He tells NDTV that the "possibility of local support cannot be ruled out... the judgement so far talks only of maps." (Listen: How Pak remote controlled 26/11)

In Kasab's case, however, there was no lack of evidence. The judge relied heavily on Kasab's confession, made originally in July 2009 and withdrawn two months later.   More than 600 witnesses testified against Kasab in his 11-month trial. A Mumbai photographer had caught Kasab in action as he opened fire at CST along with Abu Ismail. Those chilling shots showed a young man with a backpack, sneakers and an AK47, targeting in coldest blood, passengers, shopkeepers, even young children during rush hour on a Wednesday evening. Forensic evidence, DNA samples and phone records helped cross the Ts and dot the Is in the case against Kasab. (Pics: Mumbai attacked | Bravehearts | In memory)

Another blow to the Mumbai police: The judge has said there's no conclusive evidence about whether it was Kasab who killed Mumbai's three top cops: Hemant Karkare, the chief of the Anti-Terror Squad (ATS); Ashok Kamte, then Additional Commissioner of Police;   and Encounter Specialist Vijay Salaskar. It could have been Kasab, or his partner Ismail, or both. The bullets were damaged, so the ballistic evidence is unclear.

The verdict is ambiguous about the role Pakistan played in the attack. Circumstantial evidence suggests that Kasab and the other terrorists were being guided on the phone by Pakistani handlers, states Tahaliyani. He also added that while the conspiracy does seem to involve Hafiz Saeed and Zaki Ur Rehman Lakhvi, the evidence against them is, again, circumstantial and based on Kasab's confession. (Read: Verdict proves Pak not involved: Jamaat-ud-Dawa)

This part of the judgement is likely to find favour in Pakistan, where a separate trial is being conducted of seven alleged masterminds of the attack- a trial that India finds neither convincing nor direct. The men being tried include Lakhvi, the Operations Chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Repeatedly, Pakistan has rejected the dossiers of evidence submitted by India on Hafiz Saaed, one of the main conspirators of 26/11, who also heads the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD). Now, it has back-up for its defense.

Another part of the grotesque 26/11 puzzle is being pieced together in a third country - America. In Chicago, more - and specific - evidence of the Pakistani involvement in 26/11 is emerging, allegedly, from the interrogation of David Coleman Headley. A dual citizen of Pakistan and America, Headley was arrested by the FBI in America in September 2009. He was allowed a plea bargain - in exchange for pleading guilty to planning 26/11 and other attacks in India, Headley was promised he would not be extradited to India, or be given a death sentence. In nine trips to India between 2006 and 2009, Headley surveyed and filmed the locations that would be seared by Kasab and nine other terrorists during 26/11. Headley has, during questioning, allegedly named both a former and a serving Pakistani army major for being a part of the 26/11 conspiracy. (Read & Watch: 26/11 team - The men who nailed Kasab)

Among the main charges that Ajmal Kasab has been held guilty of are: