Warrant against Saeed,court says take Interpol help

The special court hearing the Mumbai terror attack case on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants....

The special court hearing the Mumbai terror attack case on Tuesday issued non-bailable warrants against 22 accused,including prime accused Saeed Hafiz,Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarrar Shah. Though the prosecution had sought warrants against 27 accused,it failed to define the roles of five of them.

The prosecution also admitted that it does not have the full names and addresses of eight of the 35 accused listed in the chargesheet. Of the 35 wanted accused,the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has full names and addresses of only 27,and we wont be pressing for warrants against the remaining eight, said Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam. The eight include Hakim Saab,Yusuf,Mursheed,Aakib,Usman,Major General Sahab (name not known),Kharak Singh and Hakim Sahe.

Nikam had on Monday moved a plea to issue non-bailable warrants against 27 accused. However,on Tuesday he could not specify the roles of Abu Annes,Abu Bashir,Abu Shariya,Abu Safi-ur-Rehman and Abu Imran. Special Judge M L Tahaliyani,while disposing of the petition,noted that the prosecution could not state the roles of five accused,and thus it would be proper to issue warrants only against 22. The court also observed that the prosecution will have to move a fresh application if it obtains their details at a later stage. Judge Tahaliyani directed the Mumbai Police Commissioner and CBI Director (Police) to execute the warrants through the Interpol.

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Nikam said the roles of most of the wanted accused have been derived from the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab,the lone arrested terrorist. The prosecution had earlier also moved a petition for non-bailable warrants against the 35 accused named in the chargesheet. The court had asked for their full names and addresses.

The prosecution also examined four witnesses,all police officers attached to the CST railway police station,on Tuesday. These officers,Baldev Bhujbal,Balkrishnan Mane,Ankush Ganjure and Dilip Mane,had conducted the inquest panchnama on the bodies at the railway station.

It has examined 79 witnesses in the case so far.