Mumbai, December 18: The lone arrested Mumbai attacker Ajmal Amir Kasab on Friday retracted from his earlier statement in which he had confessed to his role in the 26/11 terror attacks last year.
However, in a surprise admission before the Special Trial Court, Kasab said he knew suspected LeT operative David Coleman Headley, who is now in US custody and is accused of planning the Mumbai terror attacks.
This is for the second time that Kasab has retracted from his statement. He had earlier recorded his confession in front of a magistrate and later he also voluntarily detailed that the entire operation including how the attack was planned, the training, their travel from Karachi to Mumbai and the night of November 26, 2008. Notably, Kasab’s statement before the magistrate is admissible in the court as evidence.
According to information available so far, Kasab told the judge that he was made to admit his role in the ghastly terror attacks under pressure.
Kasab also denied knowing his accomplice Abu Ismail, saying that he knew the person only through the footages shown to him by the officials.
The prosecution has already wrapped up examination of evidences and a total of 610 witnesses against Kasab and two Indian accused — Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.
Earlier in the day, Kasab’s lawyer had told the court that his client was not physically and mentally fit and was under severe pressure. However, media reports quoting doctors, who have kept a round the clock watch on him, said that he is perfectly alright.
Kasab had admitted that he came in a boat from Karachi along with nine other terrorists to carry out the dastardly acts on the night of November 26 in four places, including the iconic Taj and Oberoi Hotels.
“Mein firing kar raha tha aur Abu hand grenade phek raha tha..mein Abu ke aage tha..Abu ne aisi position li thi ki usse koi dekh nahi sakta..I fired a policeman..Uske baad police ke side se firing bandh hogayi..(I was firing and Abu was hurling hand grenades. I was in front of Abu who had taken such a position that no one could see him. I fired at a policeman after which there was no firing from the police’s side),” Kasab told the court in his statement in July.
Describing the night in Cama hospital, he had said, “Thode der baad Abu wapas aaya aur mujhe andar aane ko kaha…andar gate ke paas ek lash padhi thi…(After sometime Abu came back and asked me to come inside..Inside near the gate there was a dead body).”
Kasab had also confessed before the court how he and Abu exited from CST from a foot over bridge and proceeded towards the Cama Hospital.
Kasab was arrested on the night of November 26 at Girgaum Chowpatty in South Mumbai in a police encounter while his partner Abu Ismail was killed.
Ten gunmen had landed on Mumbai shores by boats at sunset on November 26, 2008 and fired randomly inside a railway station, a Jewish settlement, a cafe and two luxury hotels.
Several people were held hostage for the next three days and at least 166 died and over 304 were injured, before commandoes smoked out the last of the terrorists on November 28 last year.
——Agencies