Mumbai: The 26/11 special court has come
down heavily on the prosecution and investigating agency for
submitting "doubtful" and "fragile" evidence against accused
Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed that led to their acquittal
in the Mumbai terror attack case.
"The evidence of the only prosecution witness is doubtful
and unreliable. The investigating agency has failed to provide
quality evidence against the duo (Faheem and Sabauddin)," the
1600-page judgement, a copy of which is with PTI, said.
The court had acquitted Faheem and Sabauddin on May 3 by
giving them the benefit of doubt.
Witness Nooruddin Shaikh had deposed in court that he and
another person, Bharat Thakur, had travelled to Nepal in
January 2008 where he saw Ansari hand over maps of Mumbai
target locations to Sabauddin at a Kathmandu guesthouse.
According to the prosecution, these maps were used by the
Pakistani terrorists, including Ajmal Kasab, and one such map
was found in the trouser pocket of slain terrorist Abu Ismail.
"Shaikh has not produced any documentary evidence of his
travel and stay at Nepal. The witness has admitted that a
record is maintained at Sonavali border with regard to entry
of persons into Nepal. He was not able to produce any entry
slip. The investigating agency has not made any attempt to
collect this evidence and not even tried to verify if Shaikh
had visited Nepal," the court observed.
-PTI
