Mumbai cops submit 22 draft charges against Ansari

Charges include section 302 of the IPC for the 166 murders.

Eighteen months after his arrest in Delhi,the Mumbai Police Crime Branch,on Friday,submitted 22 draft charges against alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Zabiuddin Syed Zakiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal to a sessions court for abetting the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai that claimed 166 lives.

The charges filed before additional sessions judge G A Sanap include abetting criminal conspiracy hatched in order to attack national integrity of India and/or capturing Kashmir by attacking major cities in India.

The police said Ansari,who was stationed in the control room outside India for achieving the objectives of criminal conspiracy, was also a part of the conspiracy hatched by executed accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab,the nine attackers who were killed by combat forces during the 60-hour siege and the wanted accused in the case.

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The police have pressed the serious charge of waging or attempting to wage war or abetting waging war against the government of India under sections 121 and 121-A of the IPC. A conviction under the charge could attract capital punishment.

According to the prosecution,Ansari was involved in the conspiracy hatched between December 2007 and November 2008 at Baitul Mujahid,Muridke,in Pakistan. They claimed he helped hire men and amass arms and ammunition like RDX laden IEDs,hand grenades and AK-47 rifles.

The charges also include section 302 of the IPC for the 166 murders murders committed at the Taj Hotel,Trident Hotel,Nariman House,CST railway station,Leopold Cafe and Cama and Albless Hospital.