Ansari, Ahmed still in Mumbai jail

Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, acquitted in the 26/11 attacks case and currently lodged in Arthur Road jail, are yet to be shifted to Uttar Pradesh prisons as the Mumbai police have still not decided on their escorting team, sources said.

Fahim and Sabauddin, allegedly involved in the terror attack on the Central Reserve Police Force camp at Rampur in UP on December 31, 2007, were brought to Mumbai in December 2008 in connection with the 26/11 attack case by Maharashtra police.

The UP police now want the duo in connection to the CRPF camp attack case.

"A request asking the city police to provide an armed escorting team to shift the duo to UP has been made in the second week of May but there is no response from them as of now," an official at the high security Arthur Road Jail in south Mumbai told PTI on the condition of anonymity.

"We had plans to move the duo from our jail to UP prisons last week itself as legal procedures in this regard were completed. Since there is no word from the police over the matter, it is getting delayed," the official added.

Although Fahim and Sabauddin were acquitted in the 26/11 terror attacks case, they were not released from jail as the two were wanted in other cases including the UP terror strike case.

"We will send a reminder," the official said, adding that this was a sensitive issue and all extra precautions with regard to security should be taken to ensure that the duo reached UP safely. The official refused to comment on whether the duo would be taken on a special vehicle of the Mumbai police or on a train.

Before being brought to Mumbai, Fahim was lodged at the Bareilly jail and Sabauddin at the Lucknow prison. The UP police had filed a charge-sheet against the two on the CRPF camp attack case and the trial is pending in court.

The UP police want the custody of the two for the trial, the official added. According to the UP police, Fahim and Sabauddin masterminded the attack on the CRPF camp, in which eight jawans were killed. The duo was acquitted in the Mumbai terror attacks case for lack of evidence by an anti-terror court.