'I came to Mumbai to act in films, never seen an AK-47'

Mumbai : In a dramatic turnaround, the lone captured terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir alias Kasab yesterday retracted his confession made earlier, saying that he had come to Mumbai to work in Bollywood films and had never seen an AK-47 rifle in his life.

Retracting the confession made before a magistrate on February 20 this year, Kasab told a special court that he had come to Mumbai at least 20 days before the 26/11 terror attacks.

"I was arrested three days before the 26/11 attacks, when I was going around the Juhu area with some friends. I was in police custody at the time of the attacks," he told the stunned courtroom.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that he had always anticipated that Kasab would retract his confessional statement.

"He has been trained by the terror organisations how to handle these things. But it [the retraction] will not affect the merits of the case in any manner. We have built up solid evidence of 610 witnesses against him," Nikam told reporters during the lunch recess.

Kasab said that he had come to India on valid travel documents, but they are missing since his alleged arrest by police. He claimed that he had also lost his mobile phone and he did not know the whereabouts of his friends.

To a query from Special Judge M.L. Tahilyani, Kasab claimed that he was arrested by the police because he was a Pakistani, three days before the attacks took place in Mumbai.

Passionate plea

Kasab added he closely resembled one of the terrorists killed in the 26/11 attacks and therefore was forced to take his place by police.

Kasab's surprise retraction of his confession came during the recording of his statement at the start of the second phase of the terror attacks trial.

He had earlier gone back on the confession July 20 in the court and later admitted to his crimes and made a passionate plea to be "hanged".

Kasab also claimed that he was forced to make and sign a confession before the magistrate.

"I was not present in the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) and I did not open fire inside the railway station. I have never seen an AK-47 in my life, or even a rubber dingy," he claimed.

He said that he had been interrogated by four white men of whom one was David Coleman Headley, one of the terror accused who is now in custody in the US.

Reacting to this, Nikam said the accused had made only "a passing reference" to Headley and T. Rana, both arrested in the US, and not a detailed statement on the issue.

Earlier on Wednesday, the first phase of the Mumbai terror attacks trial ended as the prosecution completed recording the evidence of its last two witnesses.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the arrests of Headley and Rana would not impact the ongoing Mumbai terror attacks case in any manner. However, Nikam said that he would soon file a letter rogatory before the special court seeking the evidence presented before the US courts in the matter.

The 26/11 trial started in April this year with the appointment of a female lawyer Anjali Waghmare to defend Kasab.

She was disqualified and replaced by S.G. Abbas Kazmi, who was removed early this month and the defence was carried forward by his assistant Pawar.

During the course of the trial, there were several dramatic developments before the prosecution completed the recording of evidence of 610 witnesses.