26/11 trial: Kasab's latest, wildest flip-flop

On Friday, Ajmal Kasab took his own flip-flops and his testimonies to a whole new level, claiming not just that he was never involved in the 26/11 attacks, but that he was arrested 20 days before 26/11 - while visiting Mumbai with his friends to watch a movie.

Two days after the prosecution closed its case, the attention shifted once again to Mumbai carnage's lone gunman Ajmal Kasab. As the special court in Mumbai started recording his statement under section 313 of the CrPC, Kasab said things that ranged from the seemingly improbable to the thoroughly laughable.

Kasab told special judge M L Tahaliyani: "I came to Mumbai to watch movies. I came 20 days before the attack. I was arrested from Juhu Chowpatty, released on the evening of 26/11, and then implicated in the case."

Clad in a white kurta-pyjama, Kasab, in his three-hour-long statement, appeared confident and cocky, as he had a packed courtroom latching on to his every word. His statement not only disowned all his previous statements, but added more than a pinch of bizaare.

Kasab told the judge that he came to Delhi from Pakistan by the Samjhauta Express, and came to Mumbai from Delhi. He said he was not the terrorist seen in the CCTV footage from CST station - something that he had proudly accepted earlier before the same court a few months ago. He also claimed never to have seen, much less use, an AK-47.

But the Pakistani gunman was cut-off mid-way when he said, "Four white men from America had come and Headley..." - leaving the Headley connection open to interpretation.

What makes the Headley reference startling is that Kasab has no access to newspapers or the outside world. So the question is: Does he really know who Headley is or is he simply parroting allegations made by his co-accused's lawyers?

Though his claims may sound outlandish, the prosecution says they were not completely unexpected.

"He has retracted his confession, but it won't have any impact on the case because we have enough evidence to prove it was given voluntarily. Kasab is well trained and a good actor," Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told NDTV.

For a man who only claimed to know Urdu and Punjabi, Kasab's statement peppered with English and Marathi words comes as a shot in the arm for the prosecution's claim that he is a shrewd and intelligent Lashkar operative.

Kasab's confessions, retractions

• February 20: Magistrate records Kasab's confession
• April: Kasab retracts statement, claims he is a minor
• July 20: Pleads guilty, says "Mujhe gunaah qubool hain" and "If someone feels I have done this for a lesser sentence, hang me."
• December 18: Retracts confessions again, says were taken under "duress"