Maharashtra waiting Centre nod to dispose of 26/11 terrorists' bodies

"The state has asked the opinion of the Centre on how to dispose of the bodies. The decision will be taken jointly by the state government and Centre," Medical Secretary, Bhusan Gagrani, said.

Pakistan has not claimed the bodies, which are lying in a morgue of a city hospital, though they were informed that investigations had revealed that the slain terrorists were from that country.

Although no decision has been taken on the manner of the disposal of the bodies, a proposal is being considered that they be handed over to medical students for practical learning, sources said.

Experts have noted that the bodies may start decomposing because of humidity and hence, there is an urgent need to dispose them of as soon as possible. At present, they are kept at a particular temperature at the JJ Hospital's morgue, the sources added.

The identity of these terrorists has already been established by independent witnesses in a test identification parade conducted by city magistrate. Hence, bodies can be disposed of as they are not required in the trial, special public prosecutor in the Mumbai attack case, Ujjwal Nikam, said.

This is perhaps for the first time the bodies have been identified by witnesses in a test identification parade.

These witnesses had seen the terrorists firing at people at hotel Taj, hotel Oberoi and other places, Nikam said.

He has already given his opinion on disposal of the bodies and the state is now awaiting Centre's response, the sources said.

The nine slain gunmen are: Ismail Khan alias Abu Ismail, Hafeez Arshad alias Abdul Rehman Bada, Javed alias Abu Ali, Shoiab alias Soheb, Nazeer alias Abu Umer, Nasir alias Abu Amer, Babbar Imran alias Abu Aqasha, Abdul Rehman alias Abdul Rehman Chota and Fahadullah alias Abu Fahad.