26/11 verdict boosts extradition demand

NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the conviction of Pakistan-based 26/11 masterminds, including Jamaat ud Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, by the Mumbai special court, New Delhi will now place a fresh request before Pakistan seeking extradition of all those indicted for the Mumbai attacks conspiracy.

“We will go through the judgement and based on the evidence upheld by the court regarding the role of Saeed, Lakhvi, Zarar Shah and others in the 26/11 plot, we will request Islamabad to hand them over for facing the Indian law,” said a senior home ministry official.

Though India has earlier sought custody of Saeed for probing his role further in the 26/11 conspiracy based on the confessions made by Kasab and Fahim Ansari, the Pakistani authorities have refused to accept the evidence cited against him as “substantial” enough to link him to the Mumbai attacks, let alone allow his questioning by the investigative agencies. Even on the request for extradition of Lakhvi and others, Pakistan has cited the ongoing trial against them in its own courts to deny access.

The indictment of Saeed, Lakhvi and others in a court of law here has now laid a solid ground for seeking extradition of the accused. With Saeed continuing to be a free bird so far, his conviction in an Indian court of law will now be cited as a legally sound confirmation of his role in the 26/11 attacks. New Delhi will tell Islamabad that as the Mumbai special court has indicted LeT founder Saeed and operations chief Lakhvi on the basis of solid evidence, they should be extradited to India to face the law here. India will also tell Pakistan to expedite its own trial taking into account the Mumbai court’s speedy trial process, which was completed in little over a year.

India is preparing to question American terror operative David Headley, who has pleaded guilty to the charge of carrying out reconnaissance of 26/11 targets, in the US.

An Indian team is looking to travel to the US to question Headley, in the presence of senior US justice department officials, FBI lawyers and Headley’s own lawyer.