Islamabad, Jan 1 (IANS) A FBI team has visited the home village of Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the Mumbai carnage, but has failed to find conclusive evidence of him being a Pakistani, Online news agency reported.
A five-member FBI team, headed by the agency's South Asia director, William Robert, visited Faridkot in the Punjab province Wednesday and met village residents and administrative officials but could not find Kasab's name in the record of schools and NADRA (National Database and Registration Authority) records, Online said.
Kasab's identity card that India presented to the FBI has also been proved to be forged, Online added.
The FBI team has since gone to India.
India maintains that Kasab was one of the 10 Pakistan-based terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) who staged the audacious Nov 26-29 Mumbai attacks that claimed the lives of more than 170 people, including 26 foreigners, and injured over 300.
On Dec 7, British newspaper The Observer said its investigation has confirmed that Kasab belongs to Faridkot and that his father's name was Mohammed Amir, and his mother was named Noor Elahi.
Shown a picture of Kasab, a villager confirmed that he was a former Faridkot resident, who had last visited the village a couple of months ago at the festival of Eid.
The paper said it 'has obtained electoral lists for Faridkot showing 478 registered voters, including a Mohammed Amir, married to Noor Elahi. Amir's and Noor's national identity card numbers have also been obtained.
At the address identified in the list, a man identifying himself as Sultan said he was the father-in-law of Mohammed Amir.
The Observer quoted a villager, 'who cannot be named for his own protection', as saying that the village was an active recruiting ground for the banned LeT. 'We know that boy (caught in Mumbai) is from Faridkot,' he said.
'We knew from the first night (of the attack). They brainwash our youth about jihad, there are people who do it in this village,' the resident said.
Mohammad Amir, in an interview to GEO TV, also confirmed that Kasab was his son.
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