Kasab's trial put off, work on court yet to end

The trial of lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai terror attack case, Mohammed Amir Ajmal Kasab, scheduled to begin in the premises of Arthur Road central jail on Monday, has been put off by a week as the construction of the special court is not yet over.

"The construction of court's slab is still on and the work is expected to be completed in six to seven days", special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told PTI.

The Public Works Department has informed the jail authorities that the work is going in full swing since last month and the construction would be completed soon. Only then will they be able to hand over the court premises to the jail authorities.

A portion of the jail has been segregated for Kasab's cell and the court. Earlier TADA court, which conducted the 1993 bomb blast trial was housed here. In between Kasab's cell and the court, the authorities have built a bomb proof tunnel to allow Kasab direct access to the court from the prison.

According to prosecutor Nikam, Kasab and two others would be produced before the sessions court on Monday through video conference facility. This court is now in South Mumbai and would shift to Arthur Road jail after the construction of the new court is over.

Police have thrown a thick security blanket in and around the prison and have restricted the movement of people and vehicles in the bylane touching the Arthur Road jail.

Kasab is now lodged in an isolated cell and is not allowed to meet other prisoners.

The other two accused, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin, lodged in different prison, would also appear before the court through video conference.

They are alleged to have done the recce of terror targets -- Hotel Taj, CST station and hotel Trident -- at the instance of LeT and prepared maps which were referred by Kasab and his companions to strike terror in Mumbai, killing over 160 and injuring about 300 by opening fire at these places on November 26 last year.

Kasab had earlier told Judge M L Tahilyani that he could not understand the language of 11,000 page charge-sheet but the court replied that his lawyer Anjali Waghmare is proficient in both Marathi and English languages and would brief him about the charge-sheet.