The prosecution in the 26/11 special trial Court in Mumbai today will conduct a close assessment of the terror evidence.
The prosecution in the 26/11 special trial Court in Mumbai today will conduct a close assessment of the terror evidence.
Ten gunmen had landed on Mumbai shores by boats at sunset on November 26, 2008 and fired randomly inside a railway station, a Jewish settlement, a cafe and two luxury hotels.
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Several people were held hostage for the next three days and at least 166 died and over 304 were injured, before commandoes smoked out the last of the terrorists on November 28 last year.
Additional Commissioner of Police Dewan Bharati and Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashok Duraphe are the two last witnesses to be heard in the 26/11 special trial court.
u00a0"We have examined 267 witnesses personally and about two more are left, the case would be wrapped up tomorrow, a year after the terror attacks," said special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
u00a0Nikam added the evidence of 340 other formal witnesses have been produced by filing their affidavits in the court.
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"The trial began on May 8 and in about seven months the prosecution is ready to wind up the case," said Nikam.
The lone surviving gunman Ajmal Kasab is facing the trial along with two Indians, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed.
The Defence lawyers will examine the witnesses, once the prosecution closes the case.
u00a0Following which, the accused would give their statements in the court with respect to the evidences produced against them.
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u00a0The court would give its final verdict after hearing the arguments.
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Prosecutor Nikam said the prosecution has prepared a strong case against Kasab on the basis of the testimony of 607 witnesses and strong forensic evidence.
A total of around 30 witnesses have identified Kasab in the identification parade and inside the court.
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The Forensic experts have said the DNA samples collected from the boat-Kuber, matched with the DNA of Kasab and the other five other slain terrorists.
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The prosecution has also screened in the court CCTV footages of terrorists from cameras installed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), Times of India Building (opposite CST), Hotel Taj and Hotel Oberoi-Trident.
The weapons and the seized RDX from Kasab and the slain terrorists have also been put up as evidence, besides the CCTV footages.
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Besides CCTV footages, weapons and RDX seized from Kasab and the slain terrorists have also been placed as evidence.
The prosecution is eyeing on Kasab to confess his crime in front of the Magistrate.
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A plea made by Kasab in the court partly accepting his guilt in the crime is also looked upon by the prosecutors as an evidence.u00a0u00a0
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Kasab has denied that heu00a0 had shot police officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Ashok Kamate and Constable Tukaram Omble.
To make the case even stronger that the plot was hatched in Pakistan, the prosecution is depending upon the evidence forwarded by foreign experts, who said the mobile phones, used by nine terrorists while talking to their Pakistani handlers during the assault, were imported by a Pakistan firm from China.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has also said the GPS recovered from the accused gave indications that the attack was planned in Pakistan.
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