Judge to decide if Kasab is to be sentenced

The special sessions court in Mumbai will on Tuesday decide whether Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist involved in the November 26 terror attacks, can be sentenced.

Kasab had pleaded guilty to the offence before the court on Monday, and now Judge Tahaliyani will decide if the trial should continue or not.

For the first time, in his confession, Kasab said: Mujhe mera gunaah kabool hai (I plead guilty to my crime).

Narrating the entire plot, he confessed that he came along with nine other terrorists in a boat from Karachi. Kasab also owned up for his involvement in the 26/11 terror attacks at the Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and at Cama Hospital.

The trial in the terror attacks case is likely to be completed before Diwali in October, Special Judge M L Tahilyani had indicated on July 16.

Till now, over 134 of the total 150 witnesses have been examined in the different cases filed against Kasab.

He has been charged with murder, conspiracy and waging war against India along with other crimes. His trial was to have started on April 15 but was put off as his lawyer, Anjali Waghmare, had been dismissed for a conflict of interest. Abbas Kazmi now represents him.

Kasab is the only attacker captured alive by police and is currently in custody. He was captured on CCTV during his attacks at the CST along with another terrorist, Ismail Khan.

The government of Pakistan initially denied that Kasab was from Pakistan, but in January 2009, it officially accepted that he was a Pakistani citizen.

Kasab's confession came two days after the Pakistan government filed a chargesheet against five 26/11 prime accused suspects.