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KasabŽs trial begins amid tight security
[Bangla Daily Star] Indian security forces threw a ring of steel around Mumbai's Arthur Road jail yesterday as the trial began of the lone militant suspect captured during last year's attack on the city.Hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel, all in flak jackets, combat fatigues and carrying rifles, enforced blanket security around the special prison court where Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was to be tried. Traffic was severely restricted around Mumbai's largest jail, which is just four kilometres from the railway station where Kasab and an accomplice are alleged to have killed more than 50 and wounded nearly 100 in a hail of gunfire. Barricades barred access roads, with police and soldiers checking special identity cards issued to some of the 25,000 people who live in the area. A 20-foot tunnel has been specially built from the defendant's cell to the courtroom at an estimated cost of 200 million rupees. The courtroom has also been reinforced to protect against bomb and grenade attacks. Kasab has not been seen in public since his arrest on November 26 last year, soon after 10 gunmen began an assault that left more than 160 people dead and over 300 others injured. The 21-year-old Pakistani national, said to belong to the banned Pakistan-based group Lashkar-i-Taiba, faces a string of charges including 'waging war' on India, murder, attempted murder and kidnapping. He faces the death penalty if convicted. Posted by: Fred 2009-04-16 |
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