It has cost Rs 31 cr to keep Kasab alive
Trial Of India’s Public Enemy No 1 Will Take 2-3 Months More
Prafulla Marpakwar TNN

Mumbai: Guess how much it costs to keep the sole surviving 26/11 Pakistani terrorist alive and healthy in prison. Over Rs 30 crore and counting.
As India observes the first anniversary of the terror attack on Mumbai, the cash-strapped Democratic Front government in Maharashtra has so far spent a staggering Rs 31 crore, or nearly Rs 8.5 lakh per day, to keep the 21-year-old gunman from Faridkot safe and secure to stand trial. Incidentally, the state is set to wind up its presentation of evidence in the ongoing trial in
the special court at Arthur Road jail tomorrow. However, the trial, which began in May, is not likely to finish soon—special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam reckons it will take another 2-3 months to come to completion.
“The state’s debt has crossed the Rs 1.85 lakh crore mark. But where the security of the state and the country is concerned, we don’t discuss the financial situation,’’ a senior government official admitted to TOI. Of course, the Rs 31 crore figure is strictly unofficial since the government is chary of letting out any information on Kasab. ‘Big bucks spent to nail Pak role’
Mumbai: According to a senior government official, the state has spent crores on Ajmal Kasab’s security, legal and medical bills.
On the post-terror attack expenditure, the official said that following the directives of the Centre, besides procuring weapons for emergency use, vehicles and equipment, two special cells were created inside Arthur Road Jail and J J Hospital. “There was a huge expenditure on the construction of a special cell inside the high-security Arthur Road Jail. It has been designed in such a manner that even if a truck laden with explosives were to ram into it, the cell would not be dented,’’ he said. Such safeguards are essential to protect Kasab’s life—and to establish Pakistan’s involvement in the attack,’’ he said.
Besides the special prison cell, another cell was created inside J J Hospital for Kasab’s treatment. “We spent nearly Rs one crore for the creation of a bullet-proof cell on the J J premises. But he was never taken there. Doctors were summoned to the Arthur Road jail, whenever Kasab had a health problem.’’
The official said that there was also a huge outgo on deployment of central forces to guard the Arthur Road jail and towards payment of fees for the public prosecutor and lawyers appearing for Kasab.
Meanwhile, home minister R R Patil, who was asked to resign following public anger over police inaction during 26/11, has said that the city should not panic. “Nothing should happen tomorrow,’’ Patil, whose reappointment in the new government raised quite a few eyebrows, said on Wednesday. What may have added to his confidence is the fact that a NSG battalion with 258 commandos has already landed in the city from Delhi as a security-boosting measure.