Indian authorities ban media from publishing evidence against Mumbai terror suspect

NEW DELHI. March 19. KAZINFORM. Indian authorities have prohibited the media from telecasting or publishing any material that may be used as evidence against Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist caught alive in the Mumbai terror attacks, said the private Indo-Asian News Service Thursday.

Special Judge M.L. Tahilyani, who will be in charge of the trial of Kasab in Mumbai next week, passed this order Wednesday night at the demand of Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam, who filed formal charges against the terror suspect and 46 of his fellow suspects last month, said the report. Nikam said the evidence published by the media might endanger the lives of witnesses who provided the evidence, and expressed surprise that some print and electronic media had started publicizing proceedings pending before the court, resulting in some evidence being disclosed on TV before it was produced in court. Kasab and two others alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba terror group's operatives, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, will face trial for their role in last November's terror attacks in Mumbai, which killed more than 170 people and injured over 300; Kazinform quotes Xinhua. While holding only these three in custody, Indian authorities also accused 44 others, including the nine terrorists killed in the attacks, of terrorism, murder, waging war against India, destruction of public properties and cyber crimes, among others.