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The alleged Al Qaeda terrorist Mohammad Afroz Abdul Razak on Tuesday recorded his confessional statement in-camera before a Mumbai court amidst tight security.
Afroze was brought to the metropolitan court building at 1030 hours (IST) and whisked away to court number three located on the second floor by security personnel and Crime Branch officers.
Earlier, he had apparently confessed to the Mumbai police during interrogation that he was privy to plans to attack the Parliament House complex in Delhi, the House of Commons in London (United Kingdom) and Rolta Rowers in Sydney (Australia).
On Tuesday, his confession was made in-camera before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate V P Tawre following a request by Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam in view of the sensitive nature of the case.
The exact nature of the charges against Afroz are not known though the First Information Report (FIR) says that he was booked under Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with waging war against the country and sedition.
There is speculation that he may be charged under Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance (POTO).
On December 14, Afroz had expressed his willingness to confirm his confessional statement before Tawre even as he refuted a complaint to the court by his father Mohammad Razak that the statement had been made under duress.
Mohammad Razak had pleaded that Afroz needed to be examined by a psychiatrist before he could be ruled mentally fit to record his statement before the court.
Afroz had contested this claim too.
The court had then given Afroz up to December 18 to think over his decision to record his statement.
When Afroz was recording his statement, only Tawre, an attendant, the court clerk and court typist were present. Even the investigating officer and Nikam were not allowed to be present.
A visibly frightened Mohammad Razak, who has all along maintained that his son was innocent, sobbed outside the court. The family resides in Cheeta camp at Trombay in north-east Mumbai.
A police from Australia had visited Mumbai last week to interrogate Afroz, while sleuths of Britain's Scotland Yard were collaborating with Mumbai police. A Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI - from the United States) team is also likely to question Afroz later in December.
Afroz has apparently admitted he is a member of the Al Qaeda terrorist network headed by fugitive Saudi extremist Osama bin laden, considered the mastermind behind the September 11 terror attacks in the US.
He was arrested on October 2 by the Crime Branch at Navi Mumbai.
Later, during the course of the investigation, he confessed to being a member of the Al Qaeda.
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