1. Kasab trial: as predicted, prosecution blames Pakistan, specifically that Pak Army sponsored Mumbai attacks — state sponsored — that means PAKISTAN, not any other states like maybe India or Israel or the US or the UK.
The 26/11 trial took a new turn on Tuesday with the prosecution stating that Pakistan Army was involved in the Mumbai terror attacks and a serving Major General had supervised their training in LeT camps across the border.
“The conspiracy of the 26/11 attack was hatched on Pakistan soil…It was a classic case of state-sponsored terrorism”, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in his final arguments which began in a high-security court at Central Prison here.
Attired in white kurta and pyjama, 22-year-old Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving Pakistani gunman, was seen in the dock covering his face with a handkerchief most of the time. Two other accused, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, sat besides him on a bench.
Nikam said Kasab and the nine other slain terrorists had undergone military and intelligence training in Pakistan given by activists of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and supervised by certain officers of the Pakistan Army….Kasab, he said, was a well trained commando and had also been imparted intelligence training to mislead the court. He had taken U-turns a number of times by making confessions and later retracting them, Nikam said. Alleging that the LeT and the Army were hand-in glove, the prosecution said a deliberate attempt was made by the conspirators to conceal Pakistan’s involvement in the attack.
2. more “Pakistani” terror, sailing from Colombo, Sri Lanka, ? “intelligence” sounds the alert leading to big display of police state in Mumbai harbor
On Friday, a red alert was sounded in and around the Mumbai harbour after a central intelligence agency provided fresh inputs that a mystery ship could be heading towards Mumbai from the Colombo harbour
The intelligence points to an attack on warships in the harbour. A group of trained marine commandos has been assigned to carry out the strike.
Coast Guard sources said five patrol vessels had sailed out of Mumbai harbour on the same day to track down the vessel and all ships have been put on high alert. Officially, the Coast Guard have chosen to remain tight-lipped. Its spokesperson, Commandant A Malhotra, refused to furnish details of the alert.
Officials said the ship could be carrying arms for Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives, at the behest of Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence. There is a possibility that the crew could pull off a high seas transfer of arms and ammunition.
Coast Guard air stations at Dabolim in Goa and the Union Territory of Daman, about 200 km north of Mumbai, have also been put on alert. Sorties are being flown to assist ships in locating the mystery ship.
The alert follows another sounded in January this year on the heels of another group of trained Pakistani marine commandos planning to strike defencep establishments in and around Mumbai.
This was followed by joint patrolling by the Mumbai police, Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and port officials.
All naval and Coast Guard ships have been placed on high alert and security has been beefed up around defence establishments and ships off Mumbai harbour.
Naval commandos have been deployed round the clock on battleships in docks and entry to defence areas has been restricted to visitors.
3. body of 9 year old girl found in police housing colony
The body of a nine-year-old girl was on Sunday discovered on the terrace of a building in the police housing colony in northeast Mumbai, police said.
As the news spread, hundreds of angry city residents from nearby areas marched to the police station in Nehru Nagar and held protests, demanding action against the culprits.
The victim, Anjali Jaiswal, was reported missing after 7.30 pm on Saturday by her family. She was a Class 4 student and lived in a nearby slum.
Her body was discovered by the daughter of an assistant police inspector when she went to hang clothes to dry on the terrace around 10.30 am on Sunday. This created a sensation in the area and several hundred irate residents marched to the police station.
Police declined to reveal further details and the victim’s body, which bore some injury marks, has been sent for an autopsy to Rajawadi Hospital.
An official of the Nehru Nagar police station said a special team had been formed to probe the case.
The victim’s family, however, took strong exception to the police directly sending her body for an autopsy before informing them.
There are around a dozen buildings in the colony housing police personnel from different parts of Mumbai.
