Mumbai, Dec. 27: Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a man who would be recognised anywhere in India, was quietly taken to the Arthur Road jail today for an identification parade, police sources said.

The 21-year-old, whose CCTV pictures have been beamed across the globe, had grown a beard since his arrest because the police wouldn’t let him anywhere near a razor. It wasn’t clear if, for the sake of the ID parade, he had been allowed a shave before being brought in through the jail’s back gate at 4am.

The sources said the police had a list of 35 eyewitnesses who saw Kasab and partner Ismail Khan at Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus, Cama Hospital, Metro Cinema, Vidhan Bhavan or Marine Drive, where Khan was shot dead by the police and Kasab captured.

Additional commissioner (crime) Deven Bharti and jail superintendent Swati Sathe refused comment, but the sources said Kasab was kept in the high-security Anda Cell No. 2 till 11am.

He was then taken to the Pinjara Cell, a hall with glass enclosures where the ID parade continued till 4.30pm before a magistrate. He was then shifted to Anda Cell No. 1.

It wasn’t clear how many had identified Kasab, nor whether the parade was over, nor if he had been driven back to the undisclosed place where he was being held in police custody. A crime branch team has been posted inside the jail where a CCTV is monitoring Kasab 24x7.

Among the 35 witnesses is Arun Jadhav, the constable who lay injured in the back seat of the police Qualis while Kasab and Khan drove off in it after gunning down officers Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar.

Another is businessman Saran Arasa, whose silver-coloured Skoda Laura the duo hijacked after abandoning the Qualis.

The Arthur Road Jail has earlier housed high-profile accused like Abu Salem and actor Sanjay Dutt.