‘Payment for calls from handlers made from Pakistan’

He deposed from a hotel room in Canada where he is on a business-cum- pleasure trip.

The witness,whose identity is being withheld because of security concerns,was born in Palestine.

The witness informed the court that in October,he had received an email from one Kharak Singh seeking to buy some VOIP accounts. The mail also said that he was an Indian and was seeking the VOIP facility to sell it in India. However,the first advance payment $250,which the witness received via money transfer,was from Pakistan,he told the court.

The witness also deposed that initially,after the service was activated,the usage by Kharak Singh was very low. But days before and during the attacks the usage increased.

The wintess said that initially,he did not have any doubts on the identity of Kharak Singh though the payments were made from Pakistan. He stated,“Since Indians and Pakistani nationals have relatives in each other’s countries,I thought the money might have been sent from some relative of Singh in Pakistan.”

The witness further said that when the second payment was also made to him from Pakistan,he started having doubts regarding Singh,but he did not suspende the services for professional reasons. He added that it was only when the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) interrogated him that he came to know the VOIP facility provided by him had been misused.

The witness also said that before the Mumbai attacks,there was no procedure to verify details given by a customer. But now, a procedure has been laid down.

According to the Mumbai Police the handlers in Pakistan,including wanted accused Kharak Singh,had purchased the VOIP service from the US-based private service provider to make mobile phone calls using computers to ensure that the motivation levels of the ten attackers,while they went on killing and taking people hostage in Mumbai,were kept high.

The prosecution will on Thursday examine a special agent of the FBI who had carried out the investigation in Mumbai after the attacks.

Sabahuddin Ahmed,a co-accused in the case,has been suffering from malaria in Arthur Road Jail. Today,Ahmed came to court wearing a monkeycap and shawl and requested the court to direct the jail officials to hospitalise him.