Witness identifies Qasab in court, says he stole Skoda car

A witness in the 26/11 terror attack case on Monday identified prime accused Mohammed Ajmal Qasab in the court saying he was one of the two terrorists who had hijacked Skoda car at gunpoint near Mantralaya.

Deposing before Judge ML Tahaliyani, Samit Azgaonkar said his friend Sharan Arasa had given him a lift in his Skoda car on the day of terror attack in the city. When they reached Valmiki Chowk they heard a burst of firing.

"Near Inox theatre we saw a police vehicle approaching us. Two persons got down from the vehicle, one was tall and the other short. The shorter person (pointing at Qasab) asked us to get down from the car," he told prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

The taller person (slain terrorist Abu Ismail) went to Sharan who was in driver's seat and forcibly pulled him out from the car, the witness said. The taller one occupied the driver's seat while the other terrorist sat on the front seat near him but they soon realised that car keys were not in the vehicle.

The shorter person, then, ran up to Sharan and asked him to submit the keys lying on the ground near the car, the witness said.

Qasab was seen smiling at the prosecutor very often during the trial, prompting the judge to remark in lighter vein "he seems to be fond of you".

Qasab's lawyer Abbas Kazmi also remarked "Qasab is Nikam's friend and therefore he is smiling."

Nikam replied, "Qasab knows he has few days (for the trial to get over) and hence he may be trying to strike a friendship."

A total of 150 witnesses have deposed so far and the trial is expected to conclude within a month, Nikam said.