They were instructed in the use of AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and rocket launchers, and learned how to read maps and navigate at sea.
They were told to disguise themselves as fishermen.
Kasab said in the confession that Mumbai had been targeted because it is a wealthy city and an attack would unleash “a reign of terror in India.”
He said his teachers instructed him to “kill Americans, British, and Israelis because these people are committing atrocities against Muslims.”
Kasab’s defense lawyer, Abbas Kazmi, asked the court to disregard the confession, saying it had been taken under duress.
Kazmi, who was appointed to defend Kasab on Thursday, said the confession had been “extracted out of coercion and force. It was not a voluntary statement. He was physically tortured during custody.”
Kasab appeared subdued in court on Friday, often resting his head in his hand. At his first court appearance two days ago, he chuckled and chatted with his co-defendants.
His lawyer said he had advised him that chuckling was inappropriate given the gravity of the charges against him.
The proceedings are conducted in English and Hindi. Kazmi said Kasab understands Hindi but does not speak English. No translation is provided.
Nikam, the prosecutor, said he hopes the case will be finished in six months — which would be extremely fast by the standards of major Indian trials.
His last big case — the trial for India’s deadliest terror attack, the 1993 Mumbai bombings that killed 257 people — took 14 years to complete.
RSS