Lakhvi seeks acquittal in 26/11 attacks case

Laskhar-e-Tayiba commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the mastermind of the 26/11Mumbai terror attacks, has filed a petition before the Lahore High Court's Rawalpindi bench seeking his acquittal in the case.

In his petition, Lakhvi, has pleaded that proceedings against him should be quashed and he should be acquitted on grounds that there is no evidence or witness to prove his involvement in the ghastly terror attack on India's financial capital. Referring to an earlier verdict of a trial court, which rejected his petition, Lakhvi's petition said: "The judge had failed to appreciate the fact that there was no witness against him and no incriminating material had been recovered from his custody or on his information by the investigating agency."

Lakhvi also argued that the prosecution had no evidence to prove that he had imparted terror training to Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman. Seven Lashkar operatives including Lakhvi, communications expert Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq and Shahid Jamil Riaz are being tried by the anti-terrorism court. Earlier, Lakhvi had filed two petitions in the Lahore High Court in which he had challenged his indictment, and said that there was no evidence and witnesses to prove his involvement in the brazen attacks.

According to one petition, there was no evidence and witnesses against Lakhvi except Kasab, and five policemen involved in a case registered in Pakistan. "Kasab's statement before Indian authorities was not admissible to the case registered in Islamabad and according to law a statement given in a specific case could not be used in some other case," the petition stated.

It may be noted that the Pakistan government, on November 25, had reframed charges on all seven accused, naming Lakhvi as the mastermind of the terror attacks It took the Pakistan 364 days after the horrendous attack that rocked Mumbai on 26th November 2008, but the charges clearly appeared to be safeguarding Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who India believes is the mastermind of the attack.