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Red Fort case: LeT calls BBC scribes to own responsibility
New Delhi, Nov 14: Two BBC correspondents has told a Delhi court that an alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba activist had called them to own up the responsibility for the shootout inside the Red Fort soon after the incident on December 22, 2000.
New Delhi, Nov 14: Two BBC correspondents has told a Delhi
court that an alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba activist had called them to
own up the responsibility for the shootout inside the Red Fort soon
after the incident on December 22, 2000.
Deposing before Additional Sessions Judge O P Saini, BBC Srinagar
area correspondent Altaf Hussain said someone called him up to
inform that the Red Fort had been attacked and that LeT claimed its
responsibility.
Hussain said the caller asked for the Delhi office number after he told him to call their office in the capital as the incident had taken place there.
The call was received on the telephone installed in the name of his wife. His wife, who was also summoned as a prosecution witness, further told the court that the phone was generally used by her husband.
Another witness, Delhi BBC correspondent Ayanjit Sen said he received a call at his office on Rafi Marg at around 1930 hrs saying LeT took the responsibility for the shootout inside the Red Fort.
Their testimonies are significant as police allegedly came to know of their numbers from the mobile records of main accused Pakistani national Ashfaq.
The LeT ultra had allegedly called the BBC reporters from his mobile soon after the shootout. The prosecution case is that the calls were made from the vicinity of the historic fort.
Besides the role of Ashfaq, the timely calls to the media could also help in establishing that the shootout was a planned one and was executed in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy.
Another witness Mukesh, a lady constable from the police control room said she had received a call from one Sushant at 2147 hrs saying firing was going on inside the Red Fort.
During cross-examination, she, however, admitted that such a message was flashed on the wireless at 2123 hrs earlier.
Eleven accused are facing trial in the case. The court had framed charges in the case against them on January 07 this year, over two years after two LeT militants opened fire inside the fort on December 22, 2000.
Bureau Report
Hussain said the caller asked for the Delhi office number after he told him to call their office in the capital as the incident had taken place there.
The call was received on the telephone installed in the name of his wife. His wife, who was also summoned as a prosecution witness, further told the court that the phone was generally used by her husband.
Another witness, Delhi BBC correspondent Ayanjit Sen said he received a call at his office on Rafi Marg at around 1930 hrs saying LeT took the responsibility for the shootout inside the Red Fort.
Their testimonies are significant as police allegedly came to know of their numbers from the mobile records of main accused Pakistani national Ashfaq.
The LeT ultra had allegedly called the BBC reporters from his mobile soon after the shootout. The prosecution case is that the calls were made from the vicinity of the historic fort.
Besides the role of Ashfaq, the timely calls to the media could also help in establishing that the shootout was a planned one and was executed in pursuance of a criminal conspiracy.
Another witness Mukesh, a lady constable from the police control room said she had received a call from one Sushant at 2147 hrs saying firing was going on inside the Red Fort.
During cross-examination, she, however, admitted that such a message was flashed on the wireless at 2123 hrs earlier.
Eleven accused are facing trial in the case. The court had framed charges in the case against them on January 07 this year, over two years after two LeT militants opened fire inside the fort on December 22, 2000.
Bureau Report