Mumbai, March 17: Claims by Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab about police torturing him and forcing him to confess are false and part of his strategy to escape from the clutches of law, the prosecution told a special court today.
Mumbai under attackKasab is an operative of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and is trained to mislead the court, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in final arguments before judge ML Tahaliyani in the 26/11 attack case.
Nikam was responding to Kasab’s allegations in the court earlier that his confession was not voluntary as he was tortured in police custody.
The accused terrorist also alleged that the magistrate had not read out the confession to him after recording it in February last year.
Nikam, on the sixth day of arguments, submitted that Kasab had retracted his confession after a considerable delay on April 17 after consulting his lawyer.
The retraction was planned and an afterthought, he said. In the eyes of the law, such delayed retraction has no value, he stated.
The prosecutor argued that neither the accused nor his lawyer had cross-examined the magistrate in the wake of their allegation that his signature was obtained by force.
Also, the defence lawyer had not cross-examined investigating officer Ramesh Mahale with regard to the charge that Kasab was tortured.
Kasab was sitting in the dock with his head covered with a handkerchief.
Kasab’s contention that a police constable was present in the chamber of the magistrate where his confession was recorded was without any basis, Nikam submitted.
“When a confession is recorded, mere passive presence of a police constable, who has nothing to do with investigations in the case, would not effect the credibility of that confession.”
During the recording of confession, Kasab was asked if he needed any advocate for consultation. He wanted a lawyer from Pakistan which is not allowed under Indian laws, Nikam contended.
Before recording his confession, the magistrate had given Kasab ample opportunity to think whether he wanted to make a full and voluntary disclosure, and the grown had taken benefit of this facility given by the court. Now, he cannot claim that his confession was not voluntary, Nikam argued.
Kasab and two other arrested accused, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, are facing the charge of killing 166 people in the attacks in the metropolis on November 26, 2008.
–Agencies