Islamabad, July 12: Pakistan will put five Mumbai massacre suspects on trial next week, Interior Ministry Adviser Rehman Malik said Saturday.
Before the announcement at a news conference here, Malik held a meeting with Indian Deputy High Commissioner Manpreet Vora. Vora later held a meeting with the Pakistani foreign secretary and exchanged vital documents pertaining to the case.
Malik said the investigation into the role that the five played in the three-day siege in Mumbai last November is “almost complete.” He said the five men are in custody, and “their trial is going to commence probably next week.”
Malik also rejected Indian allegations that Pakistan dragged its feet in the investigation. “We have gone (the) extra mile. We have done extra investigation, and we have proved to the international community that we are sincere in investigating this matter,” he said.
“Accusations of being slow, being nonserious must end today after this final investigation and the trial which is likely to commence in (the) next few days,” he added. Malik blamed the delay on the sluggish response of India to Pakistan’s request for details. “We are still waiting for the results of a DNA test on Ajmal Qasab,” Malik said referring to one of the 10 gunmen captured. All his nine mates were killed by Indian paramilitary forces during the siege.
Malik said Pakistan had sent 32 questions to India and received incomplete answers. “Technically, we have found discrepancies between our and Indian GPR systems and we asked India to provide us an accurate report.”
One of the five suspects, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, has been charged with masterminding the attacks, while the four others acted as facilitators and managed funds and hide-outs used by the attackers, Malik said.
“We’re pretty sure, based on the evidence which we’ve collected, that these culprits shall be punished,” Malik said, adding that the trial will take place in a maximum security prison in Rawalpindi and will be credible and transparent.
The official stressed that the case could still expand. Pakistan is hunting down a dozen other suspects in the case, who could be made additional defendants if captured. Qasab told Indian investigators that the militants were trained on Pakistani soil and the attack was planned there.
—Agencies