Ansari,Sabauddin guilty of 26/11 conspiracy: Nikam

The prosecution on Monday told the 26/11 trial court that accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed had provided maps of targets to terror outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba to carry out attacks in Mumbai and insisted that both of them be held guilty, along with Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab, for causing the death of 166 people.

Faheem and Sabauddin had been commissioned by LeT leader Zakir-ur-Rehman Lakhvi to prepare road maps of terror targets, which were shown to terrorists at a training camp in Pakistan before the November 26 strikes in Mumbai, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said in his final argument.

Nikam told Judge M L Tahaliyani that the LeT had used different modules to collect information about Mumbai before the strikes. He referred to Kasab's confession, wherein he had stated that their handlers had given them information about the targets by showing video CDs and maps.

Terror accused David Headley was involved in preparing the CDs whereas Faheem and Sabauddin had made the maps, Nikam said.

Nikam referred to the deposition of witness Naruddin Shaikh, a close friend of Faheem, who had told the court that he had met both the accused in Nepal and that in his presence, Faheem had passed on the maps to Sabauddin, who said he would hand it over to the LeT.

The witness was told by Faheem that the maps were made because Sabauddin's friends were likely to come from Pakistan to visit Mumbai, Nikam submitted. Relying on the testimony of the witness, Nikam argued that the maps seen by Naruddin in Faheem's hand were the same which were recovered by the police from the trouser pocket of slain terrorist Abu Ismael, who was killed in an encounter at Girgaum Chowpatty on the night of November 26, 2008.

Both Faheem and Sabauddin are facing charges of taking part in the conspiracy hatched by the LeT to strike terror in Mumbai, while Kasab has been charged with direct involvement in perpetrating the terror strike.