26/11 attacks case: Ajmal Kasab's statement submitted in Pakistan court

LAHORE: The English translation of Ajmal Kasab's statement was today submitted in a Pakistani Anti- Terrorism Court conducting the trial of the seven accused in the 2008 Mumbai attack that had claimed 166 lives.

Head of the Hindi department of NAMAL University, Punjab province, Nasim, who translated Ajmal Kasab's statement into English submitted it to the court in Rawalpindi.

The defence lawyers raised objection to this, arguing that Kasab's statement was yet to be made part of the case.

A private witness Hamza Bin Tariq also appeared in the court and recorded his statement apart from the statements of two other witnesses in the case.

Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Judge Attiquer Rehman adjourned the hearing till June 18.

Hamza Bin Tariq last year too had testified regarding the selling of inflatable boats used by the terrorists involved in the assault on India's financial hub.

Sources told PTI that Hamza, a resident of Karachi, today informed the court that he had not sold the boats directly to the accused.

Hamza was among the three other witnesses - Muhammad Ali, Mohammad Saifullah Khan and Umer Draz Khan - who in their last year's testimonies had identified 10 men including Amjad Khan and Atiqur Rehman, who were allegedly involved in planning and executing the Mumbai attacks on November 26, 2008 that left 166 people dead.

These witnesses had told the court that accused Shahid Jamil Riaz and 10 other people had bought 11 inflatable boats, saying they were to be used for fishing.