A Mumbai court today found 22-year-old Pakistani national, Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, guilty of mass murder and waging war against India, while acquitting two other accused, Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed for want of evidence, in the November 26, 2008 attacks on the city.
Kasab is the lone surviving gunman from the attacks that killed 166 people.
Hearing on Kasab’s sentence would begin on Tuesday. He faces life imprisonment or death penalty.
“It was not a simple act of murder. It was war,” judge M L Tahiliyani said in a summary of the 1,522 page judgment. “This type of preparation is not made by ordinary criminals. This type of preparation is made by those waging war.”
The court also held 20 other accused, including Lashkar-e-Tayiba founder Hafiz Saeed, its operations chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Abu Hamza, guilty of conspiracy.
“The judgment itself is a message to Pakistan that they should not export terrorism to India,” Home Minister P Chidambaram said after the verdict.
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