After Kasab, 26/11 accused Ansari pleads innocence

Denying his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks, accused Faheem Ansari on Monday alleged in the trial court that he was forced by the police to prepare a map of target locations after he was arrested in this case.

"I am innocent and have not committed any crime," said Ansari in reply to questions put to him by the court on evidence presented against him by the prosecution. The accused said it was not true that he had obtained a Pakistani passport by submitting fake documents and that the dossier submitted to India by the neighbouring country in this regard contained false information.

Ansari said the photograph on the passport was not his and he had not procured it by submitting false papers. Ansari rubbished the witness's account that he had handed over maps of 26/11 terror targets to co-accused Sabauddin Ahmed in Nepal and that the latter had forwarded them to the Lashker-e-Tayiba to carry out the attacks.

The accused also denied the police claim that they had found a map of terror targets from the pocket of slain terrorist Abu Ismael and said it was not drawn by him. He also said the expert's opinion -- that his handwriting had matched with the author of the map -- was 'totally baseless and untrue'.

Ansari also denied having made inquiries from a shop owner in Cuffe Parade's fishermen's colony about hiring a house in the locality where the 26/11 terrorist had landed.