Cops to appeal against 26/11 duo on stronger case

Stung by the acquittal of Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed in the 26/11 case, the crime branch of the Mumbai police is trying to prepare a stronger case against the duo.

“We have prepared the appeal copy and it will be filed in the high court soon,” said a police source. “We have plugged the holes in the case.”

The duo, the Indian connection to the November 26, 2008, terror attack on Mumbai, was accused of carrying out a survey of the city and drawing maps to pass them on to the Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The LeT, in turn, handed those over to the attackers.

In May this year, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole captured member of the group, was found guilty and sentenced to death, but the court found the evidence against Ansari and Ahmed inadequate.

The Mumbai police on August 27, 2009, had presented witness Nooruddin Shaikh of Goregaon in the court.

He identified Ansari as “a childhood friend” who he knew for three decades; both lived in the same area. He identified Ahmed as Ansari’s friend with whom he was acquainted in Kathmandu.

Special judge ML Tahaliyani, however, discarded the testimony, saying, “He is a witness who is neither wholly reliable nor wholly unreliable.”

The police also presented maps allegedly drawn up by Ahmed and Ansari, but the court said “better maps... are available on Google”.