$2.4 m bill to guard Ajmal Kasab

The commando unit's DG, R.K. Bhatia, said the bill covers costs between March 28 2009 and September 30 2010.


Afp May 24, 2011

MUMBAI: An Indian state government has received a bill for nearly $2.4 million to cover the cost of guarding the only surviving gunman from the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks, a report said on Tuesday.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has sent a bill for Rs.109 million to the government of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the capital, for security at the city's Arthur Road jail where Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab is being held.

Some 200 ITBP commandos have been guarding Kasab at the high security jail since early 2009. The 23-year-old Pakistani national was tried and convicted last May at a special court inside the prison complex.

The commando unit's director-general, R.K. Bhatia, said the bill covers costs between March 28, 2009 and September 30 last year, the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported.

The costs of deploying paramilitaries in India is normally covered by the state government but Medha Gadgil, a senior official at the Maharashtra home ministry, said the issue was a national one.

Another unnamed ministry official was quoted as saying: "What Kasab and his associates did is an attack not only on Mumbai but an attack on India and it is unfair to ask the state government to bear the burden (of costs)."

Kasab had unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction and death sentence at the Bombay High Court in February.

He was found guilty of waging war against India, murder, attempted murder and terrorism offences.

He is planning a further appeal to India's Supreme Court in New Delhi.

The Mumbai attacks left 166 people dead and more than 300 wounded after coordinated strikes on high-profile targets in India's financial capital by 10 heavily armed Islamist extremists.

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Dem Managment | 12 years ago | Reply ohhhhhh my GOD!!!!!!!
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