A forensic expert from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Wednesday told the court that the Global Positioning System (GPS) device, allegedly used by the Pakistani terrorist in the 26/11 attack, plotted a route from Karachi to Mumbai. Prior to his deposition, the FBI man (name withheld on court order) examined five GPS devices and a satellite phone at the request of Mumbai police.
Six FBI officers, including the witness, arrived in two vehicles at the Arthur Road jail gate. They were escorted by a host of Mumbai crime branch officials, including additional commissioner Deven Bharati. Mohammed Ajmal Kasab was seen smiling in court as the FBI man deposed.
The officer said that he had retrieved the data through a software, which pointed at longitudinal and latitudinal locations saved by the user of the GPS. He submitted 29 maps to the court on the basis of “way points” found plotted in one of the devices. “The way points (points marked on a GPS device) reflect points from Gulf of Karachi to Mumbai,” he said. The officer explained that the user chose the name Jala 1 for the starting point, Gulf of Karachi, and Jala 4 for destination Mumbai. There were two more intermediate way points — Jala 2 and Jala 3. The data retrieved from two other GPS devices also showed locations in Karachi and Mumbai.
The officer was visibly nervous while deposing. Additional sessions judge ML Tahaliyani tried to make him feel at ease. “Correct me if there is a mistake in what I am recording. I may not understand your accent and you may not understand mine,” said the judge. The officer said, “No, your honour. I understand you.” He told the court that he could not retrieve any data from the remaining two GPS devices as they were older models with “volatile memory”, which cannot be retrieved after the battery runs out.
The witness also identified the six objects which were in “tamper-proof” seals — with initials of the examiner and date of examination — in court. The judge appreciated the “orderly” work done by him.
