Clad in a black T-shirt and khakis, with a bag slung across his back, the gun-toting Ajmal Kasab was quite the face of the blatancy and casualness of new-age terrorism. He was caught on CCTV at Mumbai's CST station, pretty clearly taking part in one of India's most spine-chilling memories - the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai - and
has now been pronounced guilty on several counts.
Here's the lowdown on the single surviving gunman of that fateful day.
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 23, comes from Faridkot village in the Okara district of Punjab, Pakistan. His father made a living out of selling
dahi puri while his elder brother Afzal worked as a laborer in Lahore.
Kasab dropped out of school after a fall-out with his family, and joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba in his late teens. By the time he turned 21, he had received training in marine warfare at a remote camp in mountainous Muzaffarabad in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, along with 25 other men.
After Kasab was recruited from his hometown in Punjab, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi (a senior commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba) offered to pay Kasab's family Rs. 1,50,000 for his participation in the Mumbai attacks.
Following is the sequence of events in Kasab's tryst with the Indian law.
2008
Nov 27: At around 1:30am, Kasab is caught at Girgaum Chowpatty Naka in south Mumbai trying to escape in a car. He is then placed under arrest and admitted to Nair hospital.
Nov 29: Kasab gives statement to police, confessing his role in the carnage. All places under siege finally secured. 9 terrorists killed, making Kasab the sole terrorist to be caught alive.
Nov 30: Kasab records confession before police.
2009
Jan 13: M L Tahaliyani appointed as 26/11 trial Special Judge by the Maharashtra government.
Jan 16: Arthur Road Jail selected, prepared and fortified for the high profile Kasab trial.
Feb 5: Kasab's DNA samples match with articles seized from shipping vessel Kuber.
Feb 20: Kasab confesses before Magistrate R V Sawant-Wagule.
Feb 22: Ujjwal Nikam, veteran of March 12, 1993, terror trial, appointed as Special Public Prosecutor for 26/11 trial. Goes on record saying Kasab's nationality makes no difference in the eyes of the law.
Feb 25: Police file over 11,000-page charge sheet served on Kasab. Kasab charged on 312 counts, one of the highest numbers of charges ever against an accused.
Apr 1: Court appoints Anjali Waghmare as Kasab's lawyer.
Apr 15: Trial put off as Anjali Waghmare removed as Kasab's lawyer owing to conflict of interest - she is also representing some of the victims of 26/11.
Apr 16: S G Abbas Kazmi appointed Kasab's lawyer.
Apr 17: Trial begins at the Arthur Road Jail. Kasab's confession opened in court, he retracts it.
Apr 20: Prosecution charges Kasab, on 312 counts as mentioned earlier. Kasab faces murder of 166 people.
Apr 28: Kasab writes a letter through his lawyer to the magistrate requesting a perfume bottle, a toothpaste, Urdu Times newspaper and permission to walk in the adjacent varandah alongside his barrack. Faces severe backlash from the nation.
Apr 29: Experts opine that Kasab is a major.
May 6: Charges framed, Kasab now charged on 86 counts, but denies charges.
May 8: First eyewitness from CST railway station identifies Kasab.
May 15: Two doctors who treated Kasab identify him.
May 19: Hyderabad college principal says Kasab used fake I-card.
May 21: Prosecution seeks to alter charges in the 26/11 terror case, to include liberation of Jammu and Kashmir as an objective in the LeT conspiracy.
May 27: An eyewitness says he saw Kasab and nine others arrive by boat.
Jun 2: Kasab tells judge he understands Marathi too.
Jun 23: The special court issues non-bailable warrant against 22 absconding accused, including Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafeez Saeed and chief of operations of Lashkar-e-Taiba Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi.
Jun 25: The court is told that Kasab is suffering from stomach ulcers. Fears of defence pushing this as evidence of Kasab being mistreated in custody quashed as it is soon clarified that Kasab had the ulcers even before he reached India.
Jul 16: Court views CCTV footage of Kasab's movements outside CST.
Jul 20: Kasab retracts his non-guilty plea, pleading guilty to all charges before Judge Tahaliyani.
Aug 12: For the first time in the Indian history, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials depose before the Court and give technical evidence.
Nov 30: S G Abbas Kazmi removed as Kasab's lawyer.
Dec 1: K P Pawar officially takes place of Kazmi.
Dec 16: Prosecution completes case in 26/11 terror attack.
Dec 18: Denying all charges, Kasab says he is innocent, and was framed and tortured by the Indian police. In a surprising U-turn, he claims to have come to Mumbai 20 days ago and was simply roaming at Juhu beach when police arrested him.
2010
Jan 25: In yet another attempt to drag the case, Kasab tells the special court he wants to be tried by an international court. Predictably the appeal is rejected.
Feb 11: 26/11 lawyer Shahid Azmi shot dead.
Feb 22: David Coleman Headley issue crops up in court.
Feb 23: Final arguments begin from March 9.
Mar 31: After 189 days, the prosecution closes its arguments.
675 pages of written arguments submitted to the court by the prosecution, with the plea that Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Aamir Kasab and his two Indian associates, Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin Ahmed, were guilty of slaughtering 166 innocents, and must be punished with death.
Apr 6: Home Minister R R Patil says the bodies of 9 slain terrorists - lying in a morgue for over 15 months - had been secretly disposed of.
May 3: Special Judge M L Tahaliyani pronounces Ajmal Kasab guilty of waging war against the nation, along with murder and conspiracy, at the Special Court in Mumbai. Co-accused Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Ahmed acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.
This trial will be considered a landmark in Indian judicial history. Apart from Ajmal Kasab getting a fair representation and an opportunity to defend himself in a country he attacked, the trial was also the fastest in giving a verdict involving a terrorist attack.