India keen to send panel to Pak to question 26/11 suspects

NEW DELHI - With Pakistan dragging its feet over the Mumbai attacks probe, India is keen to send a panel to Islamabad to question top Lashkar-e-Taiba mastermind of 26/11, including Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, and get voice samples of those directing the carnage. India has conveyed to Pakistan its desire to send such a commission to Islamabad, government sources said.

New Delhi wants to question Lakhvi and six other suspects who were arrested and charged under Pakistani anti-terrorism laws in November 2009, said the sources.

New Delhi thought of this fresh proposal in view of Islamabad’s constant stonewalling of the 26/11 probe, which is proceeding “painfully slowly”, said the source.

During his visit to Islamabad in June, Home Minister P. Chidambaram was understood to have sought voice samples of all the Mumbai terror attacks accused who are based in Pakistan.

The government here also conveyed that it was looking closely at Pakistan’s request to allow a Judicial Commission from Pakistan to record and verify the statements of judicial and investigating officers who had recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the Mumbai terror attacks.