Police red-faced as court clears Fahim, Sabauddin

MUMBAI: Even as public prosecutor announced the state’s resolve to challenge the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, two of Kasab’s alleged accomplices, the court order has left the Mumbai’s elite crime branch red-faced.

Special judge M L Tahaliyani, while delivering a judgement in 26/11 case that held Kasab guilty, dismissed all charges against his two Indian suspected co-conspirators.

Former commissioner of Mumbai Police Hasan Gafoor and his deputy incharge of the crime branch, joint commissioner Rakesh Maria, had repeatedly claimed that Ansari and Ahmed had carried out reconnaissance of various targets attacked by Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists on November 26, 2008.

But the judge on Monday dismissed the evidence against them as “unreliable”. “Prosecution evidence against Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed is unreliable...evidence falls short and cannot be accepted,” the judge observed in his ruling.

The case against these two was considerably weakened by the reported confession in an American court by US terror accused David Headley that he had surveyed the targets for the Lashkar attackers.

While observing that the main Lashkar handlers had used latest techniques like GPS, VoIP and Google earth while preparing the attacks, the judge said they could not have relied on the maps allegedly prepared by Fahim and Sabauddin. “The maps are more confusing than helpful,” he said.

Ansari was arrested in early 2008 for allegedly being an undercover Lashkar operative who had been tasked with carrying out pre-attack surveillance.