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Key witness in Mumbai terror attacks case 'missing'

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-28 23:49

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai terror attacks case Friday took a new turn when Indian prosecutors informed a special court trying Mohammed Ajmal Amir alias Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive in the attacks, that a key witness has been "missing".

"Prosecutors told the special court hearing the Mumbai terror attacks case that one Nurudin Shaikh, who had testified before the court against two of the accused Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, saying he met the duo in Nepal and they talked in front of him about the maps of the targetted locations in the Indian financial capital, days before the massacre, is missing," a senior Indian Home Ministry official said, on condition of anonymity.

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The witness was to appear before the court on Friday but he failed to show up, following which the prosecutors declared him " missing", he said.

"This is a serious matter," the official quoted special court Judge M.L. Tahaliyani as saying.

The court has been trying Kasab for his involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks on November 26 last year, which claimed the lives of over 170 people, including foreign nationals.

A number of witnesses have appeared before the court and deposed against Kasab and the other accused in the case.