Lahore: Pakistani authorities have 161
witnesses and "incriminating" evidence to nail LeT operations
commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and six other suspects in the
Mumbai terror attack case, a senior government law official
has said.
"We have 161 witnesses and incriminating material to
prove the involvement of Lakhvi and the other accused in the
2008 Mumbai attacks," Special Public Prosecutor Malik Rab
Nawaz Noon told reporters.
The Interior Ministry has hired the services of Noon to
head the prosecution team in the Rawalpindi-based anti-
terrorism court that is conducting the trial of Lakhvi and the
other suspects.
Noon also alleged that the lawyers of the accused were
causing delays in the court proceedings.
Rejecting the defence counsel`s objections to the
validity of the confessional statement made to Indian
authorities by Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone attacker arrested in
Mumbai, Noon said it was received through proper government-
to-government channels.
"We have got it translated by the head of the Hindi
department of the National University of Modern Languages in
Islamabad," he said.
Lakhvi`s counsel has filed a petition in the Rawalpindi
bench of the Lahore High Court challenging the anti-terrorism
court`s decision to reject his plea for acquittal.
In his petition, Lakhvi said the proceedings against him
should be quashed and he should be acquitted under Section
265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the grounds that
there was no evidence or witness against him.
He also contended that there was no probability that he
would be convicted.
Lakhvi also argued that under Pakistani law, Kasab`s
confessional statement was inadmissible as evidence against
him because Kasab had not been named as an accused or declared
a "proclaimed offender" in three separate chargesheets
submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency.
The division bench of High Court, comprising Justices
Nasir Saeed and Khwaja Imtiaz Ahmed, reserved its decision
after listening to the arguments by the prosecution and the
defence.
However, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Khwaja Mohammad
Sharif recalled the two judges to Lahore and a decision is
expected to be announced by their replacements next week.
PTI
