How the case against Qasab and co was built over 3 months

Hours after the Supreme Court upheld Ajmal Qasabrsquos death sentence yesterday one man sitting in his office at Crawford Market was smiling jubilantly as he fielded incessant phone calls This is a moment of vindication for Ramesh Mahale investigating officer for the 2611 terror attack It was under this cop that a team of investigators worked against time to file a mountainous 11700page chargesheet against Qasab completing the Herculean task in a matter of 90 days Proud moment Ramesh Mahale and his team worked practically roundtheclock for three months to bring Qasab below to justiceu00a0PicRane Ashish Sitting in his Crime Branch unitI office Mahale was the man of the hour as congratulatory messages and phone calls from colleagues and superiors kept his phone buzzing Mahalersquos exceptional skills of organisation documentation and leadership have helped wrest justice for 166 victims of terror from November 26 2008 16 of them were Mahalersquos comrades in the police force ldquoIt took 90 days for a team of 99 officers to compile the 11700page chargesheet We worked at breakneck speed from 8 am to as late as 2 am to ensure that the chargesheet was filed in the stipulated timerdquo Mahale said glowing with pride Remains of the day The scene at CST on 2611 after Ajmal Qasab and Abu Ismail went on a rampage killing 52 A total of 12 FIRs were filed across the city in relation to the attacks For every FIR a police officer was designated two assistants and a computer operator Three to eight police constables also assisted each of these teams with fieldwork Fewer officers were assigned to the FIRs pertaining to vehicles stolen by the militantsu00a0 Mahale who had earlier assisted in investigations into the 1993 bomb blast was appointed as head of the investigation for the 2611 terror strike about three days after the carnage ended with the arrest of Ajmal Qasab and the killing of nine terrorists by NSG commandos ldquoSome of our best officers lost their lives in the attack When my superiors told me that I would have to step in as an investigating officer I was proud I decided that I would prove myself worthy of their expectations and started investigations on that very dayrdquo said Mahale Mahale rallied round his team as it burnt the midnight oil to compile the mammoth chargesheet which led to the historic judgement yesterday A supplementary chargesheet 1500page long was also submitted in court Investigations into the case had captured attention across the globe with FBI officials being examined at an Indian court for the first time in history The doggedness and hard work put in by these officers was made evident when Supreme Court Justice Aftab Alam in an open court mistakenly assumed that the paperwork had been submitted by the CBI a national level investigative body It was only after someone narrated to him the full form of DCBCID Detection Crime BranchCrime Investigation Department that he realised that Mumbai Crime Branch officials had compiled the chargesheet Celebrating the success of the Crime Branch Mahalersquos superior Himanshu Roy the joint commissioner of police said ldquoThis is a very big achievement for the Crime Branch and with this we have proved that our fight against terrorism is very seriousrdquo The Crime Branch is now expecting to repeat its feat in the Abu Jundal case The long road to justice Investigations began with the verification of those rescued from Taj and Oberoi hotels The cops verified the identities of the tourists with the help of documents submitted at the hotel while the staffersrsquo identities were crosschecked with the hotel administrationu00a0 In the next step statements were recorded In a span of 90 days Mahale and his team recorded around 2000 testimonies ldquoRecording of statements was followed by the submission of samples to the forensic laboratory for examination Other tasks included transcribing the conversations of terrorists with their handlers in Pakistan and verification of CCTV footage It was a case with a vast body of evidence we had to collect the minutest of evidence of the incident and get hold of as many eyewitnesses as we couldrdquo Mahale added After gathering all possible evidence Mahalersquos team managed to wind up investigations four days ahead of the deadline The last few days were spent aiding an assistant commissioner of police who was asked to compile paperwork for the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act Profile Mahale an officer from the 1983 batch had assisted investigations for the Dadar explosion in the 1993 bomb blasts He also carried out investigations in several highprofile cases in recent history including the Azad Maidan riot the fire at Mantralaya the killing of MiD DAY crime editor J Dey and investigations into the role of Abu Jundal in the 2611 attacks In his career Mahale has worked with several police stations including NM Joshi Marg Yellow Gate Dadar and Sahar He was deputed in the AntiCorruption Bureau for six years before taking over as the senior police inspector of Crime Branch unit Iu00a0