Pakistan sleuth admits mistakes in 26/11 probe
NEW DELHI: The Pakistani investigator who led the probe into the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks said his country has to deal with the fallout of the mayhem “planned and launched from its soil” and this will require “facing the truth and admitting mistakes”.
Tariq Khosa, who was made head of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) weeks after the assault that killed 166 people, acknowledged that the trial of the seven men charged for the attacks had “lingered on for far too long” and Pakistan must ensure the “perpetrators and masterminds... are brought to justice”.
In an article written for the Dawn newspaper, Khosa said “dilatory tactics by the defendants, frequent change of trial judges, and assassination of the case prosecutor as well as retracting from original testimony by some key witnesses” had been serious setbacks for Pakistani prosecutors.
During their meeting in the Russian city of Ufa last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif agreed that the two sides will discuss ways to expedite the trial of the Pakistani suspects, including the use of voice samples.
The seven Pakistani suspects, including Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, have been charged with planning, financing and executing the carnage in India’s financial hub. Khosa listed seven key facts uncovered during the Pakistani investigation.
He said the Mumbai case was “quite unique” as it involved one incident with two jurisdictions and two trials. While India managed to nab Kasab and obtained his confession to close the trial, “proving conspiracy in a different jurisdiction is more complex and requires a far superior quality of evidence,” he said.
Khosa suggested that legal experts from both countries “need to sit together rather than sulk and point fingers”. At the same time, Pakistani authorities should not forget the FIA declared various other facilitators and operatives as fugitives and the trial “will not be over with the disposal of those under arrest or on bail”. LAKHVI’S BAIL MAY NOT BE RE-CHALLENGED
LAHORE: Pakistan may not re-challenge the bail to Mumbai attack mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, a senior official said on Monday citing the government’s “own weakness” for not seeking bail revocation, even as the deadline to conclude the 26/11 case ended over a month ago.
The Islamabad high court had set a two-month deadline last April for conclusion of the Mumbai attack case while disposing off the government’s plea to cancel Lakhvi’s bail.
The HC had also declared that it would cancel Lakhvi’s bail if the trial court failed to conclude the case within two months around mid-June. However, there is no official word about the government’s plan to rechallenge Lakhvi’s bail.