New Delhi - In response to Pakistani queries, India on
Friday provided written replies that a senior Indian minister said
provided 'a solid basis' to punish perpetrators of November's Mumbai
terrorist attacks.
A set of 30 questions were raised by Pakistani investigators who
studied India's dossier containing evidence linking the Pakistan-
based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to the assault that left
at least 170 people dead and over 300 injured.
'We have put together answers to the 30 questions. They are a
comprehensive document and answer every question and are backed by
documentary evidence,' Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram
said in New Delhi.
'If Pakistan is serious about investigating the origins of the
horrific incidents in Mumbai, these answers provide a solid basis,'
he said.
'We expect Pakistan to take the investigations forward, apprehend
all the culprits, hand them over to India for prosecution, or
prosecute and punish them in Pakistan,' Chidambaram said.
The reply was later presented by India's External Affairs
Ministry to Shahid Malik, the Pakistan High Commissioner to India.
'It is part of the process and will be helpful for the probe,'
Malik said in brief comments to the reporters after receiving the
document.
News reports said the Indian response included forensic analysis,
photographs of the terrorists and voice-intercepts of phone
conversations between the terrorists and their 'handlers' in Pakistan
during the attacks.
Pakistan in February announced the arrest of six suspects in
connection with the November 26-29 siege in India's financial
capital, which Pakistan said were 'partially planned' on its soil.
The detainees included Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, head of the LeT
group.
On March 8, top Pakistani Interior Ministry official Rehman
Malik asked India to respond urgently to the queries forwarded by
Pakistan after completing their initial probe.
Rehman said Pakistani investigators were left with only 13 days of
remand to hold four of the Mumbai attack suspects in their custody.
Rehman's comments came in the backdrop of the request by global
police agency Interpol for India to share DNA profiles obtained in
the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks so that these could be compared
with genetic fingerprints provided by Pakistan.
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