One of the 13 accused in the July 11 train serial blasts case has confessed that he agreed to undergo arms training in Pakistan at the instance of prime conspirator Faisal Shaikh to make up for Rs 1.5 lakh he gave to two conmen who cheated him.
"I collected approximately Rs 1.5 lakh to pay two Sudanese nationals, Jumma and Kamal, who promised they would give me a much larger amount in return," Shaikh Mohammed, an accused, who worked as a tailor in Pune, said.
According to Mohammed, he later learnt that the two had fled with his money to Dubai and therefore decided to take up Faisal's offer to undergo training in Pakistan for which he was promised Rs 1 lakh.
The confessions of 11 accused were received by a special court in sealed covers and were opened on Thursday.
Although all of them have retracted their statements, the confessions have evidential value and their validity would be decided by the court during the trial.
Another accused Naved Rashid Khan confessed that he had met Faisal during his visits to dance bars and decided to join his activities since Faisal had a very "colourful" personality.