Trial Resumes for Abu Jundal: Key Handler Who Taught Hindi to 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attackers

Ansari stands accused of planning the attacks and training the terrorists involved. (File)

Mumbai:

The long-delayed trial of Zabiuddin Ansari, also known as Abu Jundal, is finally set to resume after the Bombay High Court quashed a lower court order on Monday. Ansari, who taught Hindi and local mannerisms to the 10 terrorists involved in the devastating 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, had requested confidential documents that authorities will no longer be required to provide.

Justice R N Laddha's bench approved the petition filed by Delhi Police, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Ministry of External Affairs, which challenged the trial court's 2018 directive requiring them to furnish specific confidential documents sought by Ansari.

The 26/11 terror attacks case against Ansari had been suspended since 2018, awaiting resolution of the government authorities' petition.

Authorities allege that Ansari not only participated in planning the attacks but also personally trained the ten Pakistani terrorists who attacked Mumbai on November 26, 2008. His specific role reportedly involved teaching them Hindi and providing critical information about Mumbai's geography to help them operate undetected.

Ansari had previously filed an application in a Mumbai special court requesting documents to support his claim that he was arrested in Saudi Arabia before being deported to India. The trial court granted this request in 2018.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police maintains that Ansari, a Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, was apprehended outside the airport in the national capital.

After the trial court directed authorities to provide the requested documents in 2018, the authorities approached the Bombay High Court for a stay order.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, argued that the trial court's order should be quashed as it was "bad in law." The High Court ultimately upheld the Centre's petition, clearing the path for the trial to proceed.

The 26/11 attacks, executed by ten heavily armed Pakistani terrorists who entered Mumbai from the Arabian Sea on November 26, 2008, resulted in 166 fatalities, including foreign nationals.

Investigators claim Ansari served as a key handler for the terrorists. Ajmal Kasab, the only terrorist captured alive, was convicted and sentenced to death by a special court in 2010 and executed in Pune's Yerwada Jail in November 2012.

Ansari faces multiple terrorism charges from various law enforcement agencies, including Delhi Police, National Investigation Agency, and police forces from Maharashtra, Bangalore, and Gujarat.

In 2016, Ansari was among seven individuals sentenced to life imprisonment by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court for the 2006 Aurangabad arms haul case.

He had previously evaded police capture, fleeing to Malegaon before escaping to Bangladesh and eventually to Pakistan.

Ansari came to prominence when his voice was identified in intercepted communications from the Karachi-based control room directing the ten terrorists during the 26/11 attack.

In 2012, intelligence agencies located him in Saudi Arabia, confirming his identity through DNA samples from his family in Beed. He was subsequently deported to India from Saudi Arabia in June 2012.

During interrogation, Ansari revealed details about his connections with various Lashkar commanders, his meetings with the organization's founder Hafeez Saeed, and their recruitment strategies utilizing cyberspace.