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Mumbai terror gunman goes on trial in bomb-proof courtroom
Amar Singh and Richard Orange15 Apr 2009
THE only gunman captured alive during the Mumbai terror attacks entered court today charged with mass murder and waging war.
In a purpose-built bomb-proof court house, 21-year-old Ajmal Amir Kasab faces the death penalty if found guilty of the outrage which left 186 people dead and more than 250 injured last November.
He is accused of being one of 10 machine gun wielding terrorists who opened fire on some of the city's busiest tourist hubs.
Kasab was brought to the windowless court in Mumbai's Arthur Road jail via a 20ft tunnel from his prison cell. He went before Judge ML Tahaliyani at about 11.20am local time.
The start of the trial was held up because of concerns that Kasab's state-appointed lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, had accepted a brief from a witness connected to the case. Former Lincoln's Inn barrister KBN Lam was seen going into the court this morning and is said to be defending Kasab.
The full charge sheet against Kasab is understood to run to 10,000 pages - including 2,202 police and civilian witnesses. He is yet to enter a plea.
Mumbai police have implemented unprecedented security measures to ensure Kasab is not assassinated. He has been moved to a "heavily fortified bunker" which can withstand attacks by missiles and will be guarded by 60 commandos from the elite Indo Tibetan Border Police, who have formed a cordon around the courtroom.
More than 500 security personnel surrounded the area and 900 residents have been given ID cards. Only 60 people are allowed in court and journalists face stringent security and background checks before being given passes.
Maharashtra state's home minister, Naseem Khan, said: "Let the world see, that in spite of the attacks, we can ensure a fair trial."
Kasab was nicknamed "the babyfaced terrorist" after being photographed marching through the city's main railway station carrying an AK-47 and with a backpack filled with grenades and ammunition on 26 November.
That night, 173 people were killed after the terrorists launched a commando-style attack. They arrived by boat in south Mumbai and fanned out to their targets, including two five-star hotels, the station, a tourist café and a Jewish centre.
They took hostages, killed bystanders and fought with the police.
Kasab has signed a statement confessing that he and his co-attackers were trained by Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistani militant group responsible for a series of attacks in Kashmir over the past decade.
Also facing charges are alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba members Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, who are accused of drawing up maps of the Taj Mahal and Trident hotels and the station.
India has accused Pakistan's security service, the ISI, of involvement in the attacks, which Islamabad denies.
