"He is an innocent village boy who became the scapegoat in the 26/11 terror attacks case as he is a Pakistani."
This is how Ajmal Kasab's lawyer K P Pawar described the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege on Mumbai in his final arguments in the trial on Thursday.
"Kasab has no connection with the perpetrators of the 26/11 attacks. He has been arrested by the police just because he is a Pakistani and according to the police, the conspiracy of the attack was hatched in Pakistan," Pawar told a special court.
Earlier, Kasab had taken a similar stand before the court, when he gave his statement after the recording of evidence.
Kasab had come to India a fortnight before November 26 and was arrested by the police from suburban Juhu Chowpatty, where he had gone for a stroll, Pawar said.
"Kasab is an innocent boy from a small village in Pakistan who has become an easy prey and target for the police," the lawyer told Special Judge M L Tahiliyani.
Pawar argued that since all the 10 terrorists who had carried out the attacks were dead, the police had to arrest someone to show that one of the conspirators has been arrested.
"The police have not been able to arrest the 35 absconding accused and hence are targeting an innocent person," he said.
According to Pawar, the evidence producedd by the prosecution in the form of photographs, CCTV footages and DNA tests are 'manipulated, fabricated and improbable'.
On Kasab's confession before a magistrate and his guilty plea before the special court, Pawar said it was given under police 'duress'.
"The police had assured him that he would be given a lesser punishment and would be shifted out of this jail if he pleaded guilty," he said.
Pawar further argued that the police had tutored the witnesses to give evidence against the terrorist.
Pawar will continue his arguments on Friday, after which the lawyers of the two other arrested accused -- Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed -- will make their final arguments.
The court will then declare a date on which it will pass the judgment in the case.
Kasab, Ansari and Ahmed were arrested for their alleged involvement in the terror siege on Mumbai on November 26, 2008, in which 166 people were killed.
