Surviving Mumbai attacker pleads guilty in court
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The lone surviving gunman from last year's Mumbai attacks made a surprise guilty plea on Monday, admitting to a role in the three-day rampage that killed 166 and raised tensions between India and Pakistan.
Pakistani citizen Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, 21, had been charged with 86 separate offences including murder and waging war against India for his role in the November 26-28 assault.
Kasab, who had pleaded not guilty in May, now faces a possible death sentence.
Moments before the trial’s 135th witness was to take the stand, the gunman, Ajmal Kasab, stood up and told the judge that he pleaded guilty to carrying out the attacks.
Amid gasps from the courtroom, he gave a detailed recounting of the planning and execution of the operation, beginning with the group’s departure from Pakistan and ending with the rampage that hit five-star hotels, a Jewish center, a railway station and popular cafe.
Closed-circuit video footage caught during the siege of India's financial and entertainment capital showed Kasab carrying an AK-47 assault rifle in Mumbai's main train station. Kasab admitted that the closed-circuit video was of him, and he narrated the entire sequence of events.
The confession appeared to be a surprise to everyone in the court, including his court-appointed lawyer, S. G. Abbas Kazmi. Judge M.L. Tahiliyani, who also was apparently taken aback, called lawyers from both sides to figure out the significance of Kasab's statement.
It was not immediately clear what prompted Kasab to make the statement after consistently denying he was guilty. Harish Salve, a senior supreme court lawyer, said it was not clear if Kasab confessed voluntarily.
"I am sorry to play the party spoiler. But I hope he doesn't come the day after and give it another twist,'' Salve said.
Kasab, who had pleaded not guilty in May, now faces a possible death sentence.
Moments before the trial’s 135th witness was to take the stand, the gunman, Ajmal Kasab, stood up and told the judge that he pleaded guilty to carrying out the attacks.
Amid gasps from the courtroom, he gave a detailed recounting of the planning and execution of the operation, beginning with the group’s departure from Pakistan and ending with the rampage that hit five-star hotels, a Jewish center, a railway station and popular cafe.
Closed-circuit video footage caught during the siege of India's financial and entertainment capital showed Kasab carrying an AK-47 assault rifle in Mumbai's main train station. Kasab admitted that the closed-circuit video was of him, and he narrated the entire sequence of events.
The confession appeared to be a surprise to everyone in the court, including his court-appointed lawyer, S. G. Abbas Kazmi. Judge M.L. Tahiliyani, who also was apparently taken aback, called lawyers from both sides to figure out the significance of Kasab's statement.
It was not immediately clear what prompted Kasab to make the statement after consistently denying he was guilty. Harish Salve, a senior supreme court lawyer, said it was not clear if Kasab confessed voluntarily.
"I am sorry to play the party spoiler. But I hope he doesn't come the day after and give it another twist,'' Salve said.
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