Trial court erred in acquitting duo in 26/11 case: Nikam tells Bombay high court

The conduct of Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, the two acquitted in the 26/11 terror attacks case, prior to the strikes was indicative of their role in the operations that claimed 166 lives, the prosecution told the Bombay high court on Wednesday.

Arguing against their acquittal in the sensitive case, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the court that both the accused were involved in preparing maps of the targets and handing them to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

The LeT supplied the maps to the 10 terrorists who created mayhem in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

The evidence supplied by the prosecution was sufficient to convict the two and needed no further corroboration, the prosecution told a bench of justices Ranjana Desai and RV More. He said that the trial judge had erred in acquitting Ansari and Ahmed.

When the two were arrested in connection with an attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur in 2007, a fake Pakistani passport and ID card were found in Ansari’s possession along with 10 maps of various locations in Mumbai, Nikam said.

Also, Ansari’s childhood friend, Nuruddin Shaikh, had seen him handing over these maps to Ahmed in Nepal for passing them on to the LeT, he added.

The prosecution has said that LeT leader Abu Kafa had given these maps to Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and Abu Ismail, who were intercepted by the police on their way to Malabar Hill, and the map found in their possession was also made by Ansari.