Click to play videoNew Delhi: Three months after an unprecedented scale of investigations, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday filed the 11,280-page chargesheet in the 26/11 terror attack.
Charges have been filed against Ajmal Amir Kasab and 44 other Pakistanis including 35 still wanted in connection with the attack.
Two of the accused were reportedly army personnel and the police are investigating if they were still with the Pakistani Army or are not part of the the LeT. The two are Colonel R Sahadat Ullah, Major General Sahab (full name not known).
CNN-IBN discussed what should India now do with former Ministry of External Affairs secretary KC Singh and former Mumbai Police commissioner MN Singh.
CNN-IBN: As someone who prosecuted the 1993 bomb blast case, is there a sense of Deja vu in this chargesheet. A number of people have been prosecuted but the masterminds and key handlers as was the case in 93 are all based in Pakistan. Any difference between 1993 and 2009?
MN Singh: First of all I would congratulate Mumbai Police and particularly the crime branch which has done a marvellous job completing the investigation in three months and putting up the chargesheet. It is a cast iron case, a water tight case. Those three who are in police custody will definitely be convicted on the basis of evidence gathered by the police. As far as the absconders are concerned, I have little hopes of Pakistan ever handing them to India. Going by my experience of 1993 case in which Dawood Ibrahim and so many others are involved… wanted and they are based in Pakistan. Pakistan has been playing and I don’t have any hopes of Pakistan ever agreeing to hand over these people. All this tamasha (drama) that is going on about Pakistan verifying, the investigations and asking answers for certain questions are all an attempt to dilute and subvert the investigations being done by the Indian authorities.
CNN-IBN: Many would say the big difference this time is that you have got Ajmal Kasab in your custody. Does that qualitatively change India’s stand in prosecuting and perhaps putting even more pressure on Pakistan in getting some of those 35 operatives who have been named in the chargesheet?
MN Singh: The basic difference between the 93 case and 26/11 is that there was no detection involved in the present case because one fellow was already in police custody and nine other dead bodies were also in custody. So it was a case that already had how and when, whereas in the 1993 case we had to detect the whole conspiracy. Here is was already a solved case and you already had to gather the evidence and put it before the court which the police have already done exceedingly well. In 1993 we had to detect and unravel the whole conspiracy. Of course in 93 Indian underworld was involved and here all the conspiracy originates from Pakistan, Pakistani nationals are involved maybe even the authorities and those in the establishment are also involved. That is a big doubt that comes to my mind.
CNN-IBN: At the end of the day Mr KC Singh, if you look at the names in the chargesheet – Zarar Shah, Lakhvi, Abu Qama all of them are based in Pakistan and it is not clear whether they are detained or not. Some reports say they are under some form of detention but clearly they are not those whom the Pakistani government has formally charged for their role in 26/11. Where does that leave the entire role of Lashkar? The chargesheet says Lashkar is the mastermind but Pakistan does not admit to that.
KC Singh: Let’s go about it step by step. I think we have to both encourage Pakistan and keep pressure on Pakistan. They have come some distance though that is very little and a bit too late. The 30 questions posed by them also fall into three-four different categories. Some of them are very simple questions about DNA, fingerprints etc. The question is why haven’t we provided them? They should have been provided in the first place. Having not provided, Pakistan should have sought them very quickly rather than waiting six weeks. There is another information coming form Pakistan where they are saying that it is time-bound and they cannot detain people beyond a certain time, beyond March 13 so we will have to give the information. I think this is not an ordinary trial. This is a trial in a court here, this is a trial before the world public opinion. This is also something where we have to keep pushing Pakistan. Therefore media management and how we project is very, very important. We can’t just have Mumbai Police handle it. I heard that when the Joint Commissioner was talking about two armymen etc. Now, there is a way to talk about it. You can’t fault him for this as he doesn’t deal with it.
CNN-IBN: Are you saying the Joint Commissioner should have been very specific about whether they were armymen when the word Colonel is mentioned in the chargesheet. He also at the same time said these could be designations of Lashkar commanders. You are saying when you are coming out in public you got to be very specific?
KC Singh: Exactly, exactly. Otherwise it will provide those forces in Pakistan an excuse to stop cooperating. Those forces, we know, are a part of the army or were a part of the army or some how linked to the army. So we don’t play into the hands of those forces. It is extremely important how you calibrate the public information. We have got some CCTV footage. Pakistan has asked and wants complete footage. Now if you keep giving snippets to the press they will say this has been doctored. Remember the 30 points start factually and then lead slowly into doubt and end with Samjhauta and Malegaon. So Pakistan is building a case.
CNN-IBN: Mr KC Singh you raised those 30 questions. One would like to suggest that now the chargesheet has been filed and details are out. You have said that many of those 30 questions are very simple in nature. What possibly can India give that would surprise Pakistan. Is this has now just become a question-answer session of sorts?
KC Singh: No it is not. I think there is firstly a trust deficit. You take the very first question. They want a confessional statement of Kasab. Is it because India didn’t want to give it because it would let out all the so-called cats out of the bag? May be evidence will get doctored. But also don’t forget that there are three of us – India, Pakistan and FBI.
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