Mumbai terror accused get a lawyer

In the backdrop of several advocates' refusal to take up the brief of those allegedly involved in Mumbai terror attack, the first lawyer appeared for an accused in the case who was remanded to police custody till January 23.

Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed were produced before a magistrate court in Mumbai, which remanded them to police custody in connection with the November 26 Taj hotel firing case registered at the Colaba police station in south Mumbai.

Advocate Ejaz Naqvi filed his 'vakalatnama' for Faheem on Monday. Till now, no lawyer has appeared for any of the four accused in the case, which includes Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab, the lone terrorist caught alive and one more accused Imran Shehzad.

Faheem and Sabauddin have been accused of conducting recce of the city and preparing maps of possible targets here and submitting the information to Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives.

They were arrested in February last year in connection with the attack on Central Reserve Police Force camp in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh.

The duo were brought to Mumbai from Lucknow on December 18. However, Faheem's lawyer Naqvi said even if he had prepared the maps, which the prosecution contended was given to LeT operatives, he was not aware of what it would be used for and its purpose.

Another accused in the CRPF attack case Imran Shehzad was also brought to Mumbai as a suspect in the terror attack case.

"The one who made the maps is not the accused, one who misused it is the accused," Naqvi argued and claimed Faheem is not involved with LeT or Mumbai terror attack.
          
Naqvi said the terror attack occurred in November and at that time Faheem was lodged in a jail in Uttar Pradesh.
         
"An accused cannot be tried in two different cases in different states. It amounts to double jeopardy. Faheem is
at present in judicial custody in the UP case and here he is in police custody. We will approach the High Court objecting to this," Naqvi said.
        
 Kasab, one of the main perpetrators of the dastardly attacks, is in police custody till January 19 in connection
with the firing inside Cama hospital in south Mumbai.