By IANS,
Mumbai : A special court Tuesday ordered non-bailable warrants of arrest against 22 people who are believed to be in Pakistan and are wanted for suspected involvement the 26/11 terrorist attacks here. They include Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Sayeed and Lashkar-E-Taiba (LeT) head of operations Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi.
Special Judge M.L. Tahilyani, who is conducting the 26/11 case hearings, directed the Mumbai Police commissioner and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to initiate the process of issuing the non-bailable warrants (NBWs) through Interpol.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam Monday submitted a list of the absconding accused before the Special Court and said that since the addresses of 22 of the 35 absconders were available, NBWs should be issued against them.
The prosecution had sought the NBWs nearly three months ago but the court had then asked it to provide the complete addresses of the accused, a majority of them believed to be in Pakistan.
Nikam made a fresh plea after receiving the addresses of 27 accused absconders from the central government.
Currently, only one Pakistani citizen, Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, is in custody and undergoing trial for his role in the 26/11 attacks.
His nine accomplices, all from Pakistan, were gunned down during the 60-hour anti-terror operations by the combined security forces Nov 26-28 last year.
More than 170 people had been killed in the terror strikes.
Investigations by various Indian agencies, Kasab’s confession and intelligence inputs pointed to the involvement of the Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT.
The 11,500-plus-page charge sheet filed by Mumbai Police in the 26/11 case also named 35 wanted accused including LeT commanders Zarar Shah and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
Hafiz Sayeed, considered one of the masterminds of the 26/11 attacks, had been put under house arrest in Decmber 2008 but released June 2 by a Lahore court for want of evidence.
The other accused absconders against whom NBWs are sought include: Abu Hamza, Abu Al Kama alias Amjid, Abu Kaahfa, Muzammil alias Yusuf, Zarar Shah, Abu Fahadullah, Abu Abdul Rehman, Abu Anas, Abu Bashir, Abu Imran, Abu Mufti Saeed, Abu Umar Saeed, Mohammed Ishfaq, Javed Iqbal, Sajid Iftikhar, Khurram Shahdad, Abu Abdur Rehman, Abu Mavia and Abu Hanzla Pathan.
The NBW is sought to be issued also against a Pakistan army officer identified as Col. R. Sadatullah.
Nikam told reporters that all the accused are presumed to be in Pakistan and the NBWs would be routed for execution through the central government and Interpol.
The Interpol too can act by issuing Red Corner notices against them and if they fail to respond to the NBWs, they will be declared as proclaimed offenders, he pointed out.