New Delhi: The conviction of Ajmal Amir Kasab
in 26/11 attacks case by a special court in Mumbai will bring
"pressure" on Pakistan to act against main conspirators based
there, security experts here feel.
International relations expert Professor Brahma
Chellaney at the Centre for Policy Research feels that the
judgement will bring "pressure" on Pakistan to act against the
conspirators there.
"It is Pakistan which is dragging its feet in the matter.
Now that India has done its part, its the turn of Pakistan to
act," Chellaney said.
He said the judgement was a "fair" one. "The fact that a
couple of accused have been acquitted shows that judge has
reached an objective conclusion," he said.
Former Intelligence Bureau Chief Arun Bhagat felt that
the way Pakistan was acting in the case, it was nearly
impossible to nail the culprits in that country.
"I am afraid the main conspirators will get away as
Pakistan is not interested. They are demanding documents from
India whereas the investigations should have taken place
there. Just before the pronouncement of the verdict in the
case, they wanted Kasab as well. The case is spread across
three continents but people who conspired, funded and designed
the 26/11 attack are in Pakistan," he said.
He said the Benazir Bhutto assassination case is a
testimony of how investigations are handled in Pakistan.
Bhagat said the judgement was on expected lines as there
was "overwhelming evidence" against Kasab and it was a open
and shut case.
"About the other two accused there was very little
evidence. They were not prime accused. They could have
provided logistics and supporting material but were not
involved in the killing," he said.
Over 17 months after he and nine other perpetrators
unleashed death and devastation on the financial nerve centre
of the country, special anti-terror court judge M L Tahaliyani
convicted Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab for the carnage
that had left 166 people dead.
Kasab, who hails from Faridkot in Pakistan, now faces the
prospect of death penalty.
The court also held that 20 of the wanted accused,
including LeT founder Hafiz Saeed, operations chief Zaki-ur
Rehman Lakhvi and Abu Hamza were involved in 26/11 conspiracy.
Two alleged Indian conspirators -- Sabauddin Ahmed and
Faheem Ansari -- who were claimed to have prepared the maps of
the terror targets and handed those over to Pakistan-based
Lashkar-e-Toiba for execution of their plans, were acquitted
of all charges as the court said the evidence produced by the
prosecution could not be relied upon.
-PTI
New Delhi: Delhi`s Parimarjan Negi and Abhijeet Gupta will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Parsvnath Commonwealth chess championship that gets under way in the national capital.
The event, being sponsored by the Parsvnath Developers and co-sponsored by the ONGC, will see over 20 Grandmasters in action in a field of around 300 players from more than 20 countries.
The event which part of the preparation for the Asian Games 2010, will also see Grandmasters from countries other than Commonwealth nations participating as approved by authorities to give excellent chances to Indian players.
To be held at the Clarks Inn Anand Vihar, the event will be the strongest ever Commonwealth chess championship.
With a total of Rs. 8 lakh prize money at stake, the main contenders for the title in the open category will be top seed Alexei Dreev of Russia and besides him there are four other players including Negi who have rating in excess of 2600 ELO points.
Negi, in fact, will be the cynosure of all eyes as he will be playing in Delhi after a gap of over one year. The second youngest Grandmaster ever in the world will have his task cut out and he starts as the rating favourite for the Commonwealth title.
After a brilliant show in the Asian continental championship where he won the bronze medal, Abhijeet is the other Indian who will be vying for top honours in a star-studded field.
The world junior champion in 2008, Abhijeet recently tied for the top spot in the Reykjavik open and the performance at Subic Bay in Philippines in the Asian continental was the perfect icing on the cake for the young Indian who hails from Bhilwara in Rajasthan but is now employed in Noida for the Bharat Petroleum.
Former world junior girls` champion D. Harika and former Asian champion Tania Sachdev will be hoping for medals in the women’s section and the former is a clear favourite for the crown.
There will be medals at stake in various age categories which will prompt a lot of tiny tots to bring out their best. While the major action will go on, on the top boards, the likes of IM norm holder Vaibhav Suri and up and coming Harshal Shahi have it in them to cause major upsets.
IANS
