Prosecution seeks panel to examine boat used in 26/11 attacks

A commission should be constituted to examine the boat used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach the Indian coast to carry out the 2008 Mumbai attacks, prosecution in the case today pleaded a Pakistani anti-terrorism court (ATC).
"A commission should be formed to examine the boat used by alleged terrorists of Mumbai attack," the prosecution said in an application filed in the ATC Islamabad, which held the hearing at Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.
The boat is in the custody of Pakistani authorities in the port city of Karachi, from where the 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India.

"The boat is a case property and should be examined by the defence lawyers as well and for the purpose the court should constitute a commission," it said.
The ATC issued a notice to the defence and the matter will be heard during the hearing on January 6, a court official told PTI.
The 10 LeT militants had left Karachi on the boat on November 23, 2008. En route, they hijacked another boat, killing four of its crew. They allegedly forced the vessels's captain to take them close to the India shores. The captain was killed when the vessel reached Mumbai's coast.

On November 26 that year, the gunmen left their vessel, moored off the coast of Mumbai in inflatable boats and docked in an area of fishing shanties. They broke up into smaller groups to carry out the attacks that killed 166 people.

Nine of the gunmen were killed by Indian security officials during the attacks. The lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Kasab was executed by India in November, 2012.
Pakistani authorities have arrested seven LeT members involved with the planning of the attacks, including the terrorist group's operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who is said to be the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks.

Other arrested LeT men are Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Sadiq, Shahid Jamil, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum.
A trial is underway against them at the ATC since 2009.
Lakhvi, 55, secured bail in December last year and was subsequently released from Adiala Jail on April 10 after the Lahore High Court set aside the government's order to detain him under a public security act.