Mohammad Ajmal Amir ‘Kasab,’ the lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai terror attack case, on Friday denied having ever fired at passengers at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. He also told the special sessions court that he was in police custody 20 days before the attacks.
As per the trial procedure, the court was recording his statement under Section 313 of the Criminal Procedure Code. He answered each question posed to him, saying, “Pata nahi [I don’t know],” “Poori baat galat hai [Everything is wrong],” and “I was not there [at CST].”
Judge M.L. Tahaliyani read out the deposition of eyewitnesses on the attack at the CST. ‘Kasab’ said the incident might have happened, but he was not present at the terminus; people might have been injured, but he was not the one who fired at them. He claimed he had laid his eyes on an AK 47 when he was in custody, and he had never handled the weapon.
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‘Kasab’ said: “I was in police custody 20 days prior to 26/11. I was caught at Juhu Chowpatty. I was there, ‘picture ke chakkar me’ [presumably to watch a movie]. I had a Pakistani passport and visa and a Sony Ericsson 500. The mobile did not have a local SIM. The police searched me, found my Pakistani passport and took me in. I was first in the custody of the local police and then transferred to the Crime Branch.”
When the judge inquired how he had landed himself in Mumbai, pat came the reply. “By Samjhauta Express, via Delhi.” Sensing that ‘Kasab’ seemed to know that the local police and the Crime Branch were different entities, Mr. Tahaliyani asked whether he knew what the Crime Branch was.“Unit one, Crime Branch. ‘Udhar to maa yaad aati hai’ [They bash you up till you see stars]. I got to know later it was unit one.”