Pak prosecutors approach court in Mumbai attack case

Rezaul H Laskar & M Zulqernain
Islamabad/Lahore, Apr 7 (PTI) Pakistani prosecutors
have approached a court to set aside a lower court's order
barring the collection of voice samples of seven suspects,
including Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi,
charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The Federal Investigation Agency filed the revision
petition in the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court last
week, sources told PTI.
The High Court is yet to set a date for hearing the
petition. In October last year, the anti-terrorism court
conducting the trial of the seven suspects had rejected a
petition filed by the prosecution to obtain voice samples of
the accused.
Lawyers defending the accused had then contended that
the petition went against the provisions of Pakistani laws.
The revision petition filed in the High Court bench
states that the accused were in telephonic contact with Ajmal
Kasab, the lone surviving attacker who has been sentenced to
death by an Indian court.
It further states that the voice samples of the seven
suspects are needed so that they can be matched with the
recorded conversation between the attackers in Mumbai and
their alleged handlers based in Pakistan, sources said.
India has been pressing Pakistan to provide voice
samples of the seven suspects arrested for allegedly planning,
financing and facilitating the Mumbai attacks and other
persons who allegedly directed the attackers from Pakistani
territory.
The Mumbai attacks, which drew widespread global
condemnation, began on November, 26, 2008 and lasted until
November, 29 killing 166 people.