Kasab's drama in court was pre-planned: Nikam

The retraction of confession by Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist arrested during the terror strike in Mumbai last year, will not have any effect on the ongoing trial in the case, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told mediapersons on Friday.

Nikam made the comments in the wake of Kasab -- who deposed for the first time today -- claiming that he was arrested by the Mumbai police days before the 26/11 terror strike and his confessions had been taken by force.

"We have enough evidence to prove that Kasab's confession was made voluntarily and not by force," said Nikam.

Terming Kasab's statements in the court as a 'drama', Nikam said, "It will not affect the trial. His drama was pre-planned."

He added that he knew that Kasab would retract his confession.

Nikam added that the trial was likely to get over within 45 days.
 

Nikam told reporters, "We have produced in the court photographs, CCTV footages and eye-witness accounts to prove that he (Kasab) had participated in the terror attack."

"Hum jald se jald Kasab ka hisaab karenge (We will decide the Kasab case as soon as possible)," Nikam said.

It is not the first time that Kasab has taken an U-turn. Earlier, he had confessed before the magistrate about his role in the 26/11 terror attacks. Later, he took a U-turn by only partially accepting his guilt and minimising his role in the terror strike.

Today, he took another U-turn by totally denying his role in the attacks.

"Kasab has been trained by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba not only in military tactics, but also on how to mislead the court," Nikam said.

Nikam said that Kasab has changed his stance several times and he deliberately mentioned LeT operative David Headley to delay the trial. "He is very clever and he wants Headley to be roped into the case," he said. "

"We shall soon expose Kasab," Nikam said, adding that he will not disclose his strategy now.

Asked why Kasab retracted his confession today, Nikam said, "He (Kasab) may have been guided by somebody or it might have been his own strategy -- he is very intelligent and knows how to pick up leads from the proceedings of the court. Headley's name was mentioned in the court earlier and he must have picked that up," Nikam said.

Asked about today's developments, Nikam described it as 'fantastic' and said, "Our Bollywood bigwigs should look at Kasab as a case study."

Additional inputs from PTI