Qasab fired on ASI Omble, says eyewitness

The first eyewitness in the Mumbai terror attack case on Friday told the special court that he had seen prime accused Mohammed Ajmal Amir Qasab firing from AK-47 rifle at Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Tukaram Omble, who fell to the bullets at Girgaun Chowpatty on November 26 last year.

The witness Police Sub Inspector (PSI) Bhaskar Kadam said he was one of the officers who had fired at Abu Ismail, who was in Skoda car along with Qasab on the day of the terror attack.

While Ismail was seriously injured, Qasab opened the front door of the car on the left side and pretended to fall down, the witness told Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam during examination-in-chief.

As ASI Omble and API Sanjay Govilkar approached towards Qasab, he started firing at Omble, the witness said. The ASI took the bullets while pouncing at Qasab and tried to disarm him.

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After Omble was injured, a police team reigned a blow of lathis on Qasab and snatched his AK-47 rifle, he said.

Omble and Govilkar were taken to nearby hospital in a mobile police van, while Ismail and Qasab were also moved to another hospital in the ambulance, the witness said.

Earlier, Kadam said that he and other policemen of DB Marg police station got a message from police control room that two terrorists were moving in a Skoda car.

"We immediately organised a 'nakabandi' at Girgaum Chowpatty and saw a Skoda car approaching us at a fast speed. We signalled the car to stop when it halted 50 meters ahead of us and tried to take a U-turn but hit the divider on the right hand side of the road," the witness said.

"Meanwhile, I and other policemen rushed towards the car and surrounded it," he said. "The driver and his companion threw their hands up to surrender," the witness said.

Kadam then told judge ML Tahiliyani that the driver fired at him from the car's window and he retaliated in self-defence. "He (Ismail) was seriously injured in police firing. It was then we noticed that the person on the left side (Qasab) got out and pretended to fall down," Kadam said.