26/11 case:Pak commission to inspect boat used by terrorists

A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has ordered sending acommission of prosecution and defence lawyers to Karachi to examine a boat used by 10 LeT terrorists to reach India for carrying out the 2008 Mumbai attack.
"After hearing arguments from prosecution and defence lawyers, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) Islamabad which held the hearing at Adiala Jail Rawalpindi ordered formation of a commission to inspect Al-Fauz boat (used by Mumbai attack terrorists) in Karachi," a court official said.
He said the commission would be notified once the prosecution and defence lawyers submit the names of their nominees.
"After notification, the commission mayvisit Karachi and inspect the boat early next month," he said.

An ATC Judge yesterday heard the Mumbai attack case and accepted the request filed by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to send a judicial commission to examine the boat as it was difficult to produce it before the court.
Besides examining the boat, the commission would also record the statement of a witness, Munir, during its visit to Karachi.

Earlier, the Islamabad High Court set aside the verdict of trial court of not allowing sending a commission to Karachi terming it "flawed and not in accordance with law" and allowed examination of the boat in the port city.
In May, the prosecution had challenged the trial court's decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat used by Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made "case property".

According to the FIA, the attackers used three boats including Al Fauz to reach Mumbai from Karachi.
It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.
Al-Fauz is in the custody of Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 LeT terrorists armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades had left for India on November 23, 2008 to carry out the Mumbai attack that claimed 166 lives.

En route to their destination, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They forced the vessel's captain to take them close to the Indian shores and killed him when the vessel reached Mumbai's coast.
Mastermind and LeT operations commander Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum are accused of abetment to murder, attempted murder, planning and executing the Mumbai attack.
Lakhvi is living at an undisclosed location after being released from jail on bail a year ago. The other six suspects are in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi. The case has been underway in the country for more than six years.