26/11 case: Charge sheet against Abu Jundal

Mumbai police on Monday filed a supplementary charge sheet in the 26/11 case naming Abu Jundal as a key conspirator.

Police on Monday filed a supplementary charge sheet in the 26/11 case naming Abu Jundal as a key conspirator and highlighting the role of Pakistan's ISI in the terror attack, four months after the LeT operative was deported from Saudi Arabia.
 

The Crime Branch filed a voluminous 14,676-page charge sheet in the court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate P S Rathod in which the role of ISI and LeT operatives before, during and after the attacks find mention in detail, said Joint Police Commissioner (Crime) Himanshu Roy.

"Jundal has clearly fixed the role of ISI in exporting terror to India. It was ISI's major Sameer, who provided arms and ammunition for the heinous crime in Mumbai. The ISI had helped Jundal sneak into Dhaka in May 2006 and from there it ensured he reached Pakistan on a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight without any valid documents," Roy said.

The Crime Branch, which mentioned 35 accused as wanted in its first charge sheet, has now added to the list 12 more, all Pakistanis, including Sameer. The names of 11 other wanted accused mentioned in today's charge sheet are Nadeem alias Shahid, Sajid Meer, Yakub, Quasim, Ehsaan Ulla, Saad Shabbir, Hasan Abu Hammad, Rashid Abdulla alias Abdul Raziz, Abu Shoeb, Abu Osama and Imran alias Zeeshan.

During the mayhem, ISI personnel had even visited the control room that had been set up in the office of LeT's naval chief Yakub at Malir in Karachi, he said.

It was from this control room, equipped with two televisions, phone connections, laptops among other things that Jundal had issued instructions to the terrorists holed up inside Nariman House, a Jewish outreach centre, Roy said.

The charge sheet includes names of 1,783 witnesses.

A native of Beed district of Maharashtra, Jundal was subjected to custodial interrogation after he was brought here from Delhi where he had been arrested following his deportation from Saudi Arabia in June this year. Mumbai Police arrested Jundal in the 26/11 case on July 21.

The attacks at Mumbai's landmarks including CST railway station and Taj Mahal Hotel had left 166 dead and many more injured.
 

Supplementary charge sheet in 26/11 case, Jundal named key conspirator:

The 26/11 handler was also allegedly involved in other terror-related cases in Maharashtra including the Aurangabad arms haul case, 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune and the plan to attack police academy in Nashik.

The charge sheet has details about Jundal's role in the 26/11 attacks, his terror training in Pakistan, preparations made for the final assault, LeT's hierarchy, the precise role played by the actors in the attacks as also in the terror outfit, training methods and operational linkages in India.

According to Jundal, who received remuneration of Rs 4000 a month, LeT training camps enjoy full support from local and Federal police and paramilitary organisations in Pakistan.

According to the charge sheet, Jundal had in May 2006 sneaked into Dhaka where he was received by an ISI man at the border. Jundal then used a boarding pass issued in a fictitious name--Saeed--which he used to fly a PIA flight to Pakistan.

The charge sheet also contains the confessional statement the 30-year-old LeT operative made before a magistrate, besides the details of his confrontation with lone surviving 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab, on death row in the case.

In Pakistan, Jundal was provided a passport in the name of Riyasat Ali by the ISI, the charge sheet said, adding this passport had been seized by Delhi Police after his arrest in Saudi Arabia.

As the crime was committed in Mumbai using foreign soil, Jundal has also been charged under section 188 CrPC. The section provides for dealing with an offender in respect of a crime committed by an Indian citizen on high seas or elsewhere, or by a non-citizen on a ship or aircraft registered in India as if it had been committed at any place within India. However, the police will have to obtain permission of the Centre for application of this section before the trial begins.

Jundal has also been charged with various sections related to Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act and Customs Act.

On his voice samples intercepted by intelligence agencies during the attack, a crime branch official said, "As Jundal spoke to the footsoldiers through Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) during the attack, we have also recorded his voice through VOIP system while he was in our custody."

"Then five different voices, including his, were played before three persons who knew Jundal before he fled the country. All three have stated Jundal's voice recorded here and the voice captured during the attack is same."

According to police, LeT operatives had observed Roza (fast) at the instructions of their leader and LeT commander Zaki-Ur-Rehman Lakhvi for the success of 26/11 operation.

Jundal claimed they were informed in advance about the raids at their camps by the Pakistani police in the wake of mounting pressure from various countries following the Mumbai attacks.

After the terror onslaught, ISI had provided all help to LeT top operatives who went into hiding, the charge sheet says quoting Jundal.

In 2009, Jundal married a Pakistani woman and his wedding was attended by important LeT operatives, it said, adding the Pakistani authorities had "kicked" him to Saudi Arabia due to heightened international pressure to act against the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks.