40 witnesses to identify Kasab

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police have lined up as many as 40 persons who had seen terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab on November 26 and who have agreed to point him out from among others in a formal identification parade at Arthur Road jail in the first week of January.

Joint CP (crime) Rakesh Maria confirmed that police had identified the witnesses. ���I cannot provide details at this stage,������ he told TOI. On Wednesday, Kasab���s police custody was extended to January 6 by the metropolitan magistrate court. Sources said that on January 6, the police would seek Kasab���s judicial custody for three days during which time the witnesses would be asked to identify him.

The witnesses include police naik Arun Jadhav who pretended to be dead in the police jeep when Kasab and his accomplice Ismail Khan used it to escape from Cama Hospital after the gun battle. The terrorists later hijacked a Skoda car near Mantralaya by threatening its owner S R Arasa, who will also be one of the witnesses.

Kasab and Khan fled in the Skoda car, but were accosted by a police party at Girgaum Chowpatty. While Khan was shot dead by the police, Kasab was caught alive. ���The other witnesses include the cops who saw him firing at CST station as also some of those who were injured there,������ a police officer said.

Sources said that on Monday the top cops held a high-level meeting with Arthur Road Jail superintendent Swati Sathe and discussed the security arrangements inside the high-security prison. Despite repeated attempts, Sathe was not available for comment.

A police officer said, ���To avoid any direct eye contact with Kasab, the police is also planning to get the witnesses to identify him through a reflective glass, which allows only a one-way view.������

���Until now Kasab was very safe in our custody as he was guarded 24x7 by a battery of policemen. We are worried about his judicial custody and hence have discussed it with Sathe,������ said an officer on condition of anonymity. Police have reason to worry as the inmates at Arthur Road Jail include Chhota Shakeel henchmen, Arun Gawli and D K Rao, a close aide of Chhota Rajan who fell out with gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Some of the accused in the Malegaon blast case are also lodged there.

A team of police officers of the Mumbai crime branch is likely to visit the prison at Saat Rasta this week and ensure elaborate security arrangements inside the jail. Sources said that they have already chalked out a plan to keep Kasab in the secluded ���anda��� cell. They have also planned to install close-circuit television inside the cell.