Kasab unemotional as sentence was read out

"He should be sentenced to death…He should be hanged by the neck till he is dead."

So said judge Madan Lakshmandas Tahaliyani at 1.35 pm on Thursday while giving the final judgment against Pakistani national Ajmal Amir Kasab, who was accused number one in the 26/11 Mumbai terror case.

The historic case against terrorism ended with Kasab showing no remorse or no emotions on hearing the judgment. A little before the sentence was read out he had asked for water.

He looked unsteady and nervous. Only once was he seen wiping his eyes, but there were no tears in them.

Surely, he was very nervous and must have wanted to run away from the court-room and the prying eyes of reporters.

After the judgment Kasab told Bangdeo Yedekar, the policeman standing close to him, to take him out of the court-room.

Soon after delivering the capital punishment in English, judge Tahaliyani spoke to Kasab in Hindi. He asked K P Pawar, Kasab's lawyer, to request him to stand up.

Kasab hid his face from the media. The judge, looking at him, told him, "Kasab, aapko char gunaah ke liye sazaa-e-maut hui hai."

The judge continued in his mix of Urdu and Hindi that "for murdering the people of Hindustan (Hindustan ke log), in connection with the killing government officers and destructing the property of the government, for carrying on a conspiracy against India along with the Lashkar-eTayiba and nine others, you will be hanged."