A Federal Bureau Investigation team visited the village of Ajmal Amir Iman Kasab, the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks, in Pakistan's Punjab province to probe his inks to the deadly terror strikes and was still continuing its investigation.
The team visited Faridkot, Kasab's village in Okara district of Punjab province, yesterday and conducted inquiries, diplomatic and other sources told PTI. The sources rubbished reports in the media, particularly in some Pakistani TV channels, that the FBI team had found nothing that proved Kasab was a Pakistani national.
The FBI team was still in the process of conducting its inquiries and would take more time to come to conclusions, the sources said. They declined to give further details.
The team of investigators arrived in Islamabad on Tuesday to carry forward the FBI's probe into the Mumbai attacks, in which six American nationals were also killed. Some reports have suggested the team is led by FBI's director for South Asia William Robert, though this could not be independently confirmed.
FBI spokesman Richard Kolko, when contacted by the Dawn newspaper to comment on the reports of the team's visit to Faridkot, said: "The FBI continues to assist Indian authorities with their investigation. We will work with the
Indian authorities and our partners to follow leads wherever they may take us.
Asked if the FBI team had visited Faridkot, Kolko said, "We are unable to provide details of what is being done. We
refer you to Indian authorities or the US State Department for any additional information." Earlier, FBI sleuths had concluded after questioning Kasab for nine hours in India that he was a Pakistani and that the Mumbai attacks were planned and coordinated by the Pakistan-based elements, including Lashkar-e-Toiba operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Kasab's father has admitted in an interview to Dawn that the gunman, whose pictures were beamed around the world by the media, was his son.
Other residents of Faridkot told Geo News channel that Iman had last visited the village about six months ago, when
he told his mother he was going away for jihad.
The FBI has registered a case regarding the Mumbai attacks as the US laws require the agency to file charges in
case of the death or torture of any American national outside the country.
The director of US National Intelligence, John Michael McConnell, too visited India to assist in the probe into the
Mumbai attacks.
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