26/11 case: Ansari sent to judicial custody

Fahim Ansari, who was acquitted in the 26/11 terror attacks case, was produced before the sessions court on Thursday after the state filed an appeal against his acquittal.

Fahim Ansari, who was acquitted in the 26/11 terror attacks case, was produced before the sessions court on Thursday after the state filed an appeal against his acquittal.

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Ansari was sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

He is currently lodged at a jail in Uttar Pradesh for his alleged involvement in the 2007 Rampur CRPF camp attack.

The sessions court had issued production warrants against Ansari and co-accused Sabahuddin Ahmed, who was also acquitted in the case, on August 29 after the state government had filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court challenging their acquittal.

The duo was accused of preparing maps of the city and providing them to terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) operatives, who allegedly perpetrated the attack on Mumbai.

The state contended that the trial court had erred in holding that evidence against Ansari and Ahmed was “doubtful”.

The appeal said the evidence was “strong” because one of the witnesses deposed against them on the conspiracy. The witness had told the court that when he had met Ansari in Nepal in January 2008, he had given the maps to Ahmed asking him to forward the same to the LeT.

Besides, Ansari had rented a house at Cuffe Parade in an assumed name before the attacks. Cuffe Parade is the same area where the 10 Pakistani terrorists had landed in a boat from Karachi on the night of November 26, 2008, the appeal added.

Ahmed is likely to be produced before the court later.

The special court hearing the 26/11 case had conducted trial against captured Pakistani Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, Ansari and Ahmed. While Kasab was convicted and handed over the death penalty, Ansari and Ahmed were acquitted for lack of evidence.