Kasab charged with killing 166 people

New Delhi: Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist caught alive during the Mumbai terror attacks, has pleaded not guilty to all charges in the 26/11 case.

Kasab's co-accused - Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed have also pleaded not guilty and said they would like to face trial.

When Special Judge ML Tahaliyani asked Kasab if he accepted the charge of killing 166 people and injuring 234 and faces 86 charges, he replied in Urdu saying, "Nahin ye sab kuch galat hai. Humein ye kubul nahin hai (No, this is all untrue. I do not accept these charges)."

The court has charged Kasab and his associates under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities and Prevention Act, Explosive Substances Act, Railways Act, Customs Act, Foreigner Act, Passport Act 1920, Arms Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

They have also been charged with waging war against India, murdering and attempting to murder Indians, foreign nationals and public servants on duty, forging identities and cheating by impersonation, entering the country illegally.

Kasab himself is charged in seven of the 12 cases and the murder of 72 people. For all the three accused, the maximum punishment is the death sentence.

It's a rule to record credentials of an accused during the proceedings of framing of charges and at that time what came as a contradiction was Kasab's own admission that he was 21 years old against his earlier claim that he was a juvenile.

Immediately after he confessed to his true age he realised his folly.

Caught with his own admission, Kasab tried to cover up by telling the court that "agar aapko mera yakeen hota toh main yahan nahin hota (if you believed me, I wouldn't have been here today)".

"When he was asked he thought that when the court has ruled that he was 21-year-old, then according to the ruling he should say that he was 21 years old even though he is 17 and a half years old," said Kasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi.

Kasab might plead not guilty in court but the body of evidence against him will make it very difficult for him and his defence lawyer to make that stick.

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)

#Kasab judgment