Pakistan says fresh Indian dossier inadequate

By Baqir Sajjad Syed

Friday, 07 Aug, 2009 | 05:42 AM PST |

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has said that the fresh dossier provided by India is inadequate to prosecute the alleged mastermind and facilitators of the Mumbai attacks being tried by an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi.

‘Our security agencies, who have studied and analysed the latest dossier from India, have concluded that New Delhi has not provided enough information required by us,’ a senior official told Dawn. He said that there were a lot of gaps in the dossier and cautioned that it could be of little help in prosecuting the accused.

On July 11, while updating India on the progress made in the Mumbai attacks probe, Pakistan had sought more information for the prosecution of the accused.

The information sought by Pakistan pertained to the forensics of the confiscated GPS equipment; details of the text messages exchanged by terrorists; particulars of Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin, the Indian accomplices; the statement of the magistrate who recorded the testimony of Ajmal Kasab; and particulars of VoIP calls.

Pakistan had also asked for the authenticated copies of Kasab’s statement and translation of the information India had earlier provided in Hindi and Marathi languages.

India handed over its reply on August 1, claiming that it was a ‘detailed dossier of evidence’. Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram had said that after the latest dossier, he did not expect Pakistan to have any further questions.

However, after a detailed study of the dossier, Pakistani security agencies have found little useful information in it, particularly with regards to what they had asked for.

Among the many deficiencies, an official said, the Indians had again failed to provide the forensic details of the GPS gadgetry. Pakistan had asked for it because the GPS coordinates given by India of the route followed by the terrorists while travelling by sea from Karachi to Mumbai had a number of gaps and inconsistencies. Moreover, the attested copies of Kasab’s confessional statement have not been provided either.

Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit, at a press briefing on Thursday, also expressed dissatisfaction over the India dossier, saying the evidence given by New Delhi against Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed was inadequate.

‘It also needs to be underlined that we have received information material from India, but the material contained in that dossier regarding Hafiz Saeed is not really enough and doesn’t strengthen our hands to proceed legally,’ he said.

However, the spokesman reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to continue the trial of the accused.

‘We are proceeding in accordance with our own laws. We are moving forward as far as the trial of those involved in the Mumbai attacks is concerned.’

The trial of five accused will resume on August 29, while 13 others are absconding.