Lahore: Four witnesses today testified in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court conducting the trial of seven accused allegedly involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. The witnesses included the persons from whom one of the accused had acquired boats.
The witnesses testified before Judge Kausar Abbas Zaidi at Anti-Terrorism Court at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi. A doctor from Vehari district, 350 kilometres from Lahore, also submitted a DNA report of one of the seven accused. The witnesses from the port city of Karachi identified one of the accused. Officials however did not say whether he is Shahid Jameel Riaz or someone else. In previous hearings, the witnesses had identified Riaz as the one involved in acquiring inflatable boats used in the attacks.
The witnesses said Riaz and 10 other people had bought 11 inflatable boats for “fishing” from them. They had also identified 10 men, including Amjad Khan and Atiqur Rehman, who were allegedly involved in planning and executing the attacks on November 26-29, 2008, that left 166 people dead in India's financial capital. These 10 men were earlier declared “proclaimed offenders or fugitives” by the anti-terrorism court.
The 10 proclaimed offenders were either trainers or facilitators of the accused who launched the attacks. One of witnesses in the previous hearings told the court that Amjad Khan had obtained from him a port clearance certificate for Al-Hussaini, a fishing boat used by the terrorists and he was also involved in purchasing the inflatable boats.
Amjad Khan, the fugitive identified by the witnesses, is a shadowy LeT organiser and financier from Karachi who figured in a majority of dossiers provided to Pakistan by India. Khan, who hails from Multan, played a key role in arranging and providing funds to 10 ten terrorists who attacked Mumbai.
He is one of 20 suspects in the Mumbai attacks who are yet to be traced by Pakistani investigators. These 20 suspects were named in a chargesheet filed in the anti-terrorism court in 2009. They were all accused of playing a key role in facilitating the attacks.
Pakistani authorities have so far arrested seven suspects - LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum.
They have been charged with planning, financing and executing the attacks. The judge adjourned the hearing till December 17.
