Mumbai: The ultimate motive behind the November 26 Mumbai terror attacks was to weaken, subvert and destabilise the Indian government with a view to capturing Kashmir, a special court in Mumbai was informed.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said that Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the sole captured Pakistani terrorist, in his judicial confession, had unravelled the conspiracy behind the terror attacks.
The conspiracy involved carrying out terror attacks in Mumbai and other major metropolitan cities with a view to weakening the Indian government and enabling them achieve their ultimate objective of capturing the state of Jammu and Kashmir, he said, opening the case before Additional Sessions Judge M L Tahilyani, the special judge presiding over the 26/11 trial.
"Kasab has confessed to receiving training in handling arms and ammunition from a Pakistani military officer of the rank of major-general. When Kasab excelled in his shooting skills, the major-general had patted him on the back, he has said," Nikam told mediapersons after stepping out of the first day of the day-to-day hearing of the trial.
Kasab has also revealed that he and his associates were trained and specifically instructed to kill foreign nationals in the five-star hotels - Hotel Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and Hotel Trident-Oberoi - which were targeted.
"They were told to kill foreign nationals from the United States, Israel, Germany, UK and other nations which enjoy good relations with India," Nikam said.
There were nearly two dozen foreigners of different nationalities among the more than 170 victims of the terror attacks.
Earlier, in the morning, through his new advocate Abbas Kazmi, Kasab moved an application claiming that he was 17 years old and hence should be tried under the Juvenile Act.
However, since Kasab was obviously lying about his age, Special Judge Tahilyani dismissed the plea before the matter proceeded, Nikam said.
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