May 3: The special court’s verdict that acquitted two Indians — Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed — accused in the 26/11 terror attacks has not gone down well with the crime branch that is all set to appeal against the order in a higher court, senior crime branch officers told this newspaper. “The order is not convincing and we shall appeal against it after we get a detailed written order,” said Deven Bharti, ACP, crime. According to Mr Bharti, the crime branch had clinching evidence against the two and had put forth a watertight case. “Our case was very strong and we had enough evidence to prove our charges. The case was watertight and we did not expect acquittals,” he said. Former commissioner of the Mumbai police, Hasan Gafoor and his deputy in charge of the crime branch, joint commissioner Rakesh Maria had repeatedly claimed that Ansari and Ahmed had carried out reconnaissance missions on various targets attacked by the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorists on November 26, 2008.
While observing that the main Lashkar handlers had used state-of-the-art technology like GPS systems and voice-operated-Internet protocol (VoIP), while planning the attacks, the judge said they could not have relied on the maps allegedly prepared by Ansari and Ahmed. “Ansari had visited Pakistan on at least two occasions and it has been mentioned in the dossier prepared by Pakistan. He was associated with the LeT and had given detailed descriptions of the target locations to Ahmed in Nepal, who in turn, forwarded them to the handlers in Pakistan. Maps were produced as evidence and his visits were explained. It is surprising to know that they were acquitted,” said a crime branch officer.
The prosecution had relied upon the evidence of one Nooruddin, who claimed he was present when Ansari handed over the maps to Ahmed. One of the maps, according to the prosecution, was found in the possession of Abu Ismael, Ajmal Kasab’s accomplice, who was killed in the Girgaum-Chowpatty area.
The judge said there was no confirmation about Nooruddin going to Nepal and accepted the defences contention that if the map tabled by the prosecution was indeed found on Ismael’s person, it would have been soiled and stained with blood, which it was not.