In what appears to be a set back to the prosecution in the Mumbai terror attack trial, a police officer on Thursday said he had seen Pakistani gunman Mohd Ajmal Amir Kasab lying “unconscious” after a police encounter in Girgaum Chowpatty on 26th November last year. All along, the prosecution has been maintaining through deposition of witnesses that Kasab was “conscious” and was overpowered by policemen at Girgaum Chowpatty.
Police Inspector Vinod Sawant, who is the investigating officer in this case, told defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi that he had seen Kasab and another terrorist Abu Ismail lying in an “unconscious” condition.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, asked the court to allow him re-examine the policeman to seek a clarification from him.
Nikam said a police officer is not a medical expert to determine whether a person was conscious or unconscious.
However, Judge M L Tahaliyani rejected Nikam’s prayer saying there was no ambiguity in what the witness has said and hence there was no need to re-examine the witness.
Nikam said, “Kasab is a great actor. He has been given special intelligence training by conspirators in Pakistan and he had pretended to lie unconscious when he was confronted by policemen at Girgaum Chowpatty. Perhaps that is why the police inspector might have considered that he was unconscious”.
Outside the court, Nikam said “the deposition of witness will not affect the prosecution’s case”.
Mohd Ajmal Amir Kasab