Maharashtra not pay Kasab bill?

Mumbai, May 24 : A stunned Maharashtra government has refused to foot the Rs 11 crore-bill sent to it by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) for guarding Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving terrorist in the 26/11 Mumbai attack facing a death penalty, reports said on Tuesday.The state government was apparently shocked after the special paramilitary force that provides 200 commandos to guard Kasab sent the astronomical bill -- a fraction of what it actually costs to keep the Pakistani-trained terrorist alive at the Arthur Road jail of Mumbai.State officials are now in the process of writing to the ITBP arguing that that 26/11 terror attack was “not only an issue limited to Maharashtra but a national issue”, hinting that it wants the Centre’s help to fill the buck.While the Rs 10.87 crore bill sent by the ITBP sent eyeballs rolling, the actual cost of keeping Kasab alive is estimated to be much more owing the bulletproof arrangements, food and other essentials in a high security environment.Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said he would take a decision on the bill soon, but he did not seem too happy with it.On Feb 21 on expected lines, the Bombay High Court upheld the death sentence of Ajmal Kasab earlier passed by a lower court.Kasab, who the court said killed 56 people along with another terrorist Abu Ismail and alone killed seven, has the option to move the Supreme Court.He was responsible for the killing of Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare and Kamte Ashok Kamte, the Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police.The 24-year-old Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab was one of the ten terrorists from Pakistan who arrived by seawaters and attacked several locations in Mumbai in Nov 2008 that left 166 people dead and 238 injured.The court said the attack of 26/11 was an attack on the government and upheld that the attack was waging war on India. The court said Kasab's crime was "diabolical and brutal" and he has a "scheming mind".
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