Pak court issues notices to 26/11 accused, govt over plea to examine boat

A top Pakistani court on Monday issued notices to the seven Mumbai attack case accused, including 26/11 mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, and the government over the prosecution’s plea to form a commission to examine the boat used by the 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists to reach India.

“The Islamabad High Court has issued notices to the accused of the Mumbai attack case and the government on the prosecution’s plea to form a commission to examine the boat at port city of Karachi,” a court official told said.

He said the court had also sought record of the case from the trial court – Anti-Terrorism Court Islamabad. The official said the date for hearing of the case would be fixed later.

The prosecution had challenged the trial court’s decision to reject its plea to form a commission to examine the boat ‘Al-Fauz’ used by the Mumbai attack terrorists so that the vessel could be made a “case property”.

Al-Fauz is in the custody of the Pakistani authorities in Karachi, from where the 10 militants, armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, had left for India to carry out the Mumbai attack in 2008.

According to the Federal Investigation Agency, the attackers had used three boats, including Al Fauz, to reach Mumbai from Karachi.

It said the security agencies had also traced the shop and its owner from where the culprits bought the engine and the boat while a bank and a money exchange company were also traced which were used for the transaction of money. The 10 LeT militants had left Karachi on the boat on November 23, 2008.