Pak Court Rejects Plea to Examine Boat Used by 26/11 Attackers

The prosecution filed a plea seeking formation of a commission to examine the boat used by the 26/11 attackers.

File photo: The Taj Mahal hotel is seen engulfed in smoke during a gun battle in Mumbai, November 2008. (Photo: Reuters)

The Pakistani anti-terrorism court hearing of the 2008 Mumbai attack case has rejected the prosecution’s plea to form a commission to examine the boat which was used by the 10 LeT terrorists to reach the Indian coast.

A court official said on Thursday:

<p> The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Islamabad which held the hearing at the Adiala Jail Rawalpindi on Wednesday dismissed the plea of the prosecution seeking formation of a commission to examine the boat ‘Al-Fauz’ used by alleged terrorists of Mumbai attacks.</p>

On its last hearing on 6 January, the court had reserved the verdict after hearing the arguments of the prosecution and defence lawyers over the matter. The court also summoned four witnesses for next hearing on 20 January, the official said.

The prosecution had filed the application seeking formation of a commission to examine the boat so that the vessel could be made “case property”.

‘Al-Fauz’ is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in the port city of Karachi, from where the 10 militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the alleged attackers used three boats including ‘Al Fauz’ to reach Mumbai from Karachi. It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat. A bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money.

Pakistani authorities have arrested seven LeT members involved with the planning of the attack including the terrorist group’s operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who is said to be the mastermind of the Mumbai attack.

A trial is under way against them at the ATC since 2009. Lakhvi secured bail in December 2014 and was subsequently released from Adiala Jail on April 10 after the Lahore HC set aside the government’s order to detain him under a public security act.