Mumbai, Dec 18 (IANS) In a major reversal of his earlier stand, Pakistani terror accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab Friday backtracked on his confession in the 26/11 attacks and alleged that he has been falsely implicated in the entire case.
Kasab’s retraction came during the recording of his statement under Sec 313 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before Special Judge M.L. Tahaliyani, a vital procedure that is undertaken after the prosecution completes examination of all its witnesses.

Kasab claimed that he was dragged into the 26/11 case because he was a Pakistani national and resembled Abu Ali, one of the terrorists killed by the security forces during the anti-terror operations of Nov 26-29, 2008.

Adopting an aggressive stance, Kasab replied in the negative to all questions posed by Special Judge Tahaliyani during the day’s proceedings.

He said that on the night of Nov 26 last year, he was in the custody of the Mumbai Police which had arrested him three days before the terror attacks. He had come to India by Samjhauta Express 20 days before (the 26/11) and was sightseeing near Juhu Beach when he was nabbed.

“When all this (terror attacks) happened, I was in police custody. I was asked to give a statement on the 26/11 case because I am a Pakistani,” he claimed.

He said he was then hunting for some accommodation. His mobile phone, a Sony Ericsson 500, and passport were misplaced and these could be with the police, he claimed.

Making a new revelation, Kasab claimed he had come to Mumbai to look for a career in Bollywood movies; even some friends of his had come here and they asked him to join them.

On July 20, Kasab had made a ‘voluntary confession’ before the Special Court, which he retracted Friday and claimed that it was a story which he was asked to memorise and relate before the court.

To a query by the Special Jduge, he said that he remembered his July 20 confession in which he had said that he (Kasab) and his associate Abu Ismail had fired at the public. He alleged that the police had given him that story in Urdu to memorise.

When Special Judge asked him why he lied before the court, Kasab said that he had made the earlier statement hoping that the verdict would be pronounced soon and he would be shifted to another jail.

“Wherever I go, I know I shall be punished. But at least, after this, I will be sent to another prison. I plead that you pronounce the punishment and send me to another prison where I can live peacefully,” he said.

When the Special Judge read out the statements of the eyewitnesses of Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus shooting who had recognized Kasab as one of the two terrorists, Kasab said: “I don’t know, they might have seen me, but I have not seen them.”

When pointed out that most of the witnesses had recognised him during the identification parade, Kasab said it was because his pictures were published in all newspapers in the world. He also said that there was one police officer who used to bring the witnesses for identification.

Kasab said there was one witness who was brought to the police station twice as he had failed to identify him. “Police had signalled through their eyes and made him identify me… I don’t know who is that officer,” he said.

Reacting to this, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said he had always anticipated that Kasab would retract his confessional statement.

“He has been trained by the terror organisations how to handle this thing. But it (the retraction) will not affect the merits of the case in any manner. We have built up a sold evidence of 610 witnesses against him,” Nikam told mediapersons while stepping out of the Special Court for the lunch recess.

“I was not present in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and I did not open fire inside the railway station. I have never seen an AK-47 in my life, or even a rubber dingy,” Kasab claimed.

He said he was interrogated by four white persons of whom one was David Coleman Headley, one of the terror accused now in the custody of the US police.

Reacting to this, Nikam said that the accused had made only “a passing reference” to Headley and T. Rana, both arrested by the US police, and not a detailed statement on the issue.

Nikam also said that he feels “vindicated” for continuing the terror trial meticulously for nearly eight months and recording the evidences of a whopping 610 witnesses so far, despite suggestions from many quarters to wrap it up soon.