THE 26/11 TRIAL THAT IS STILL PENDING IN INDIA
Syed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal was in the control room in Karachi from where the attacks were being coordinated. Jundal’s voice stood out for the Hindi words, in comparison to the Pakistani handlers.
He was tracked down to Saudi Arabia by intelligence agencies. In a bid to prevent his handover to India, Pakistan produced copies of his identity cards. He was finally handed over to India after a DNA test.
The trial is, however, pending because Indian agencies claimed Jundal was arrested on June 12, 2012 from the Delhi airport, with an illegal passport. Jundal, however, claimed that he was not arrested but deported to India from Saudi Arabia on an emergency passport issued to him to enter the country.
Jundal’s claim was cemented after the charge sheet filed by Mumbai police contained a letter written by an officer from the Passport Division stating that he had been issued a passport on June 9, 2012, in response to the information sought by Mumbai police on Jundal’s passport. The letter mentioned that the Delhi passport office had issued a passport to Jundal on June 9, 2012
The prosecution examined Sitaram Gharat, the retired officer of the passport office in March this year and maintained that Jundal was issued an emergency passport four days before he landed in the country.
The defence then sought details of Jundal’s flight record.
The special cell of the Delhi Police moved Bombay high court seeking privilege over these records. The agency claimed that the documents were secret and could not be shared. On the plea of Delhi Police, the high court stayed the trial in April this year.