26/11: Custody for Kasab till Feb 13 in sailor murder case

MUMBAI: Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested for his involvement in the Mumbai terror strikes, was today remanded in police custody till February 13 for murdering the captain of a Gujarat-based fishing vessel.

Kasab, whose police custody in the Chhatrapati Shivaji rail terminus firing case ended today, has been booked in 12 cases by the city police and is in judicial custody in five other cases.

The terrorist, arrested on November 26, was not produced in the court today due to security concerns and Additional Metropolitan Magistrate N Shrimangale and Additional Public Prosecutor E B Dhamal were taken to an undisclosed location where he is being kept.

"It was argued that the police had to carry out further investigations in the case for which custody was needed," Dhamal said.

When asked by the magistrate, Kasab said he had no complaints against the police, he said.

Kasab, a resident of Faridkot in Pakistan, had no legal representation today and did not make any request for a lawyer during the proceedings, Dhamal said.

The ten terrorists, who were involved in the November 26 terror attacks allegedly set sail from Karachi in Pakistan in a vessel 'Al-Husseini' after which they hijacked the Gujarat-based fishing boat MV Kuber on November 23.

After taking four crew members of the fishing vessel on board the Al-Husseini, Kasab and his nine associates sailed to within a few nautical miles of Mumbai aboard the Kuber and then killed its captain, Ajay Singh Solanki.