26/11 trial: Kasab denies taking part in terror attacks at CST

Mumbai, Dec 18 (PTI) Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab
Friday went back on the confession he made before the
magistrate, saying that he had not participated in the terror
attacks at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in India's
commercial hub of Mumbai on November 26 last year.
Kasab, in a statement to the court, also denied that
he had planted a bomb in a taxi.
Kasab told judge M L Tahiliyani that he had confessed
before magistrate but it has been recorded wrongly.
Kasab, who claimed that he was 20 years old, also
denied that he was with Abu Ismail during the attack at CST
(VT Station).
He rejected the evidence of a witness, Bharat Tamore,
that he was seen with 10 terrorists at Badhwar Park when they
got down from a dinghy there.
Kasab said that "do baatein bolkar katham karna
chaahtha hoon, aaj bhi mujhe bolne ka mauka nahin mila tho..."
(I want to finish by saying two lines, if I don't get a chance
to speak then...)
The judge cut him short and told him that he had to
answer questions the court put to him.
Kasab disagreed with Tamore's version that he had seen
the 10 terrorists at Badhwar Park wearing saffron jackets and
carrying bags on their back and also a handbag.
Tamore had told the Judge in his evidence that he saw
two of the 10 terrorists closely and that Kasab was one of
them.
Several questions were put to Kasab based on the
evidences given by witnesses.
Asked about the dinghy, Kasab said that he did not
know anything about the dingy. "I saw the dingy for the first
time in the Court," he said.
The case of the prosecution is that the terrorists had
reached Mumbai via the dingy.
Asked whether he confessed before the Magistrate,
Kasab said that he had confessed but it had been not recorded
properly.
Kasab denied that he had told the Magistrate that he
and Abu Ismail had hired a taxi to CST.
He also said that he had not told the Magistrate that
Ismail was in the driver's seat and he himself was sitting
behind and that he planted a bomb underneath the driver's seat
while Ismail was talking to the driver.
"I did not tell the Magistrate that on reaching CST
that they saw a lesser crowd than what was shown to them in a
training camp in Pakistan," Kasab said.
"I did not contact Abu Hamza (absconding accused). My
mobile Sony Ericsson was lost and I was not in a position to
talk to anybody," he said.
To a question that witness Natwarlal, father of a
11-year-old girl, who was injured in the attack, had seen him
and another terrorist at CST, Kasab replied that he was not
present there.
"Maybe Natwarlal had said that there was firing on
people but I was not there -- I don't know," Kasab said.
To another question that Natwarlal had recognised him
in Court, he said that anybody could recognise him "by having
seen my photograph in newspapers."
About Abu Ismail, Kasab said that "I don't know who he
is. Ismail may have been involved in the attack but I don't
know him."
Dressed in a white kurta, Kasab entered the court at
1130 hours IST and was not placed in the dock but was asked to
sit in the witness box on a stool.
Kasab's medical report was perused by the Court and
the Judge noted that he did not have any mental illness.
"There is nothing of adverse concern. He does not have
any complaint (and) as such he is fit to give a statement,"
the Judge said.
A medical examination of Kasab was conducted because
his lawyer, K B Pawar, had earlier told the Court that Kasab
was not fit to give a statement.
When asked what his age was, Kasab said that he was
about 20-years.
Enquiries were made about his age and it was found
that he was not a juvenile at the time of the offence and,
therefore, he was tried by the Court, the Judge said.
The Judge also noted that Kasab was not a juvenile
when the crime was committed. PTI SVS
ANU