26/11 judgment: 'We hope Fahim will be released tomorrow'

The wife and lawyer of accused number two Fahim Ansari hope that he will come out clean on Monday, when a special court judge M L Tahaliyani will deliver his judgment in the 26/11 case.

Fahim's wife Yasmin is praying that the court's order will be in favour of her husband.

"I have been praying all along to God for my husband's well-being and I am sure he will come out clean tomorrow," Yasmin told rediff.com over phone. Fahim's lawyer R B Mokashi said the prosecution had not been able to conclusively prove that Fahim had produced the maps let alone handed it over to accused number three Sabauddin Ahmed who in turn handed the same to his Lashkar-e-Toiba handlers.

"The prosecution argued that the maps obtained from accused number 1 Ajmal Kasab's accomplice Abu Ismail after he was gunned down in Mumbai were made by Fahim and handed over to Sabauddin in Nepal," Ansari said.

"However, there was no corroboration if anybody other than prosecution's witness Nuruddin Shaikh saw Fahim handing over the map to Sabauddin in Nepal," Mokashi said.

The map obtained from Abu Ismail had blood all over it but the map was spotless and not crumpled at all, Mokashi had told the judge in his final arguments.

"Can you imagine that a map kept inside the trousers would remain clean and un-crumpled?" Mokashi wondered.

Mokashi believes that his client Fahim was framed in the case, his signature on the maps and names of various locations in Mumbai on the map in Fahim's handwriting were taken by him under duress.

"If the police torture me even I would confess to any crime and Fahim has done the same," Mokashi said.

Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam, however, told rediff.com that Ajmal Kasab had clearly stated in the court that before the attack his handlers in Pakistan had shown them video footage and maps of targets in Mumbai.

"David Headley was one part of the module that the Lashkar used to provide the ten terrorists to launch a terror attack on Mumbai.