Maharashtra home minister RR Patil has said that the state government will take responsibility for the security of Mumbai terror attack accused Ajmal Kasab from now on.
The step has come after the state government received a Rs 10 crore bill from the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) — one of India’s para-military forces — for guarding Kasab against attacks, both from inside the Arthur Road jail as well as outside.
The ITBP had deployed nearly 200 commandos to guard Kasab, India’s prime evidence in its fight to bring the attacks’ perpetrators to justice.
Kasab was caught during the attack of 2008 and is the only live attacker caught by India.
He has already been sentenced to the death penalty by a special court as well as by the Bombay High Court.
Patil had made his displeasure very clear when slapped with the Rs 10 crore bill and the state had asked the Centre to foot it, pointing out that the attack was not just against the state but against the country as a whole.
Kasab faces threats from both Indians outraged by the attack as well as the original planners of the attacks — suspected to the Lashar e Toiba — who are keen to eliminate him as a leaky witness.
