Lawyer who prosecuted 26/11 terror attack blames Pak for delay in trial

Senior lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, who appeared as a special public prosecutor in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case, on Sunday blamed the Pakistan government for delay in the trial against masterminds of the attack. On the eve of 10th anniversary of the terror attack, he accused the neighbouring country of providing patronage to those accused in the case.

On November 26, 2008, 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists had sailed into Mumbai from Karachi and carried out coordinated attacks, killing 166 people and injuring over 300. Nine of the attackers were killed by police while lone survivor Ajmal Kasab was captured and hanged after he was awarded death sentence by a court.

Dubbing LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi as the "real terrorists" behind the attack in Mumbai in 2008, Nikam said the authorities in Pakistan should make efforts for cancellation of the bail granted to them. "Still, a decade after the terror attack, there's little to show that Pakistan has acted against the masterminds," Nikam said.

He was speaking as the chief guest at a conference on law and justice organised here.

"The Pakistan government is responsible for the delay in the trial (against the masterminds)," he said, adding that the neighbouring country needs to fight terrorism emanating from its soil. In order to bring the guilty to book, the Indian government had in the past written to Pakistan, suggesting ways in which the trial could be expedited by cooperation through the legal channel, he added.

Hafiz Saeed was earlier put under house arrest after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack but was freed by a court in Pakistan in 2009. He carries a reward of USD 10 million on his head, announced by the authorities in the US for his role in terror activities.

(With inputs from agencies.)