Ajmal Kasab brought face-to-face with Abu Jundal, identifies the alleged 26/11 handler

August 10, 2012

Mumbai, August 10: Ajmal Kasab, the lone Pakistani terrorist caught alive after the Mumbai attacks, was brought face-to-face today with Abu Jundal, the alleged 26/11 handler. According to police sources, Kasab has identified Jundal as one of the handlers who instructed the team of 10 terrorists that struck Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

After the Maharashtra state government permitted the Mumbai police today to question Kasab, the two men were brought together at the Arthur Road jail, where Kasab is lodged in a bulletproof cell. The police interrogated the duo for one-and-a-half hours on the Mumbai attacks, say sources.

During the interrogation, sources say Kasab identified Jundal as the man who taught the terrorists Hindi and familiarised them with the parts of Mumbai. Jundal also identified Kasab as one of the men who he had trained, claim cources.

Kasab had named Jundal among 13 Pakistani handlers who, he said, had come to see the 10 terrorists off as they boarded the Al Hussain, the Pakistani ship, in which they sailed from Karachi to Mumbai on November 23, 2008. Ansari has reportedly retracted a similar statement and said he did not go to see the 10 men off.

It was Kasab who told interrogators that Jundal taught the terrorists Hindi and familiarised them with the parts of Mumbai. There are also reports that Jundal might have shared a room with Kasab and his fellow terrorists when they received training at a Lashkar e Taiba camp.

Sources had said the police wanted to study the differences and discrepancies in the accounts of the two men about the planning and execution of the 26/11 attack.

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police had written to the state government last week, seeking to interrogate Kasab, who has been at the Arthur Road Jail since 2008. Jundal, whose real name is Zaibuddin Ansari, was deported to India after his arrest in Saudi Arabia in June this year. He is an Indian who was allegedly a member of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen before joining the deadly Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Investigators say Abu Jundal is one of many aliases that Ansari is believed to have used as a Lashkar operative; it was as Jundal that he allegedly provided training to Kasab and the nine other men who attacked Mumbai. Sources claim he shared with interrogators, details of ISI officers and top Lashkar leaders, who he says supervised the control room in Karachi from where he, along with five other handlers, instructed the 10 terrorists on the ground in Mumbai about how to strike.

Ansari is suspected to have been involved in several other terror attacks and plans in India like the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case. He was in jail in Delhi for a month before being shifted to Mumbai on July 21 to be interrogated in the 26/11 case. His custody with the crime branch has been extended by a court till August 13.

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Union Cabinet approves controversial 'One Nation One Election' Bill

News Network

December 12,2024

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved bills to implement 'One Nation, One Election', and the draft legislations are likely to be introduced in Parliament in the ongoing Winter session, sources said.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The government is keen on holding wider consultations on bills which are likely to be referred to a parliamentary committee.

Sources said the government was also keen to consult the Speakers of various state legislative assemblies through the committee.

Moving ahead with its 'one nation, one election' plan, the government in September accepted the recommendations of the high-level committee for holding simultaneous polls for the Lok Sabha, state assemblies and local bodies in a phased manner.

Citing recommendations of the high-level committee, sources had said one of the proposed bills would seek to amend Article 82A by adding sub-clause (1) relating to the appointed date. It will also seek to insert sub-clause (2) to Article 82A relating to the end of terms of the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies together.

It also proposes to amend Article 83(2) and insert new sub-clauses (3) and (4) relating to the duration and dissolution of the Lok Sabha. It also has provisions related to the dissolution of the legislative assemblies and amending Article 327 to insert the term simultaneous elections.

This bill will not require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states, the recommendation said.

However, any move to hold local body elections together with Lok Sabha and state assemblies will require ratification by at least 50 per cent of the state assemblies as it deals with matters relating to state affairs.

Another bill will be an ordinary one to amend provisions in three laws dealing with Union territories having legislative assemblies -- Puducherry, Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir -- to align the terms of these Houses with other legislative assemblies and the Lok Sabha as proposed in the first constitutional amendment bill.

The statutes it proposes to amend are the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act-1991, the Government of Union Territories Act-1963 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019.

The proposed bill will be an ordinary legislation not requiring a change in the Constitution and will also not need ratification by the states.

The high-level committee had proposed amendments to three Articles, insertion of 12 new sub-clauses in the existing articles and tweaking three laws related to Union Territories having legislative assemblies. The total number of amendments and new insertions stands at 18.

In its report submitted to the government in March, just before the general election was announced, the panel recommended implementing one nation, one election in two phases.

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