MUMBAI (AFP) - The sole surviving gunman of last years Mumbai attacks told the judge in his trial Wednesday that he was prepared to be put to death after making a dramatic confession of his role in the operation. Please go ahead and hang me, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani national, told Judge ML Tahaliyani in court. The judge was considering how to proceed after Kasabs sudden decision on Monday to confess, in lengthy detail, to being one of the 10 militant gunmen in the November attacks, which left 166 people dead and more than 300 injured. Whatever I have done, I have done in this world. It would be better that I be punished in this world. It would be better than Gods punishment, Kasab said. If anyone is worried that Im trying to escape death by hanging, Im not. If thats the punishment, so be it. Kasabs confession on Monday had taken the judge, prosecution and even his own lawyer by surprise. Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam offered a sceptical take on Kasabs confession, arguing that the 21-year-old had made only a partial and half-hearted admission, which did not cover all the charges. Nikam also suggested that his apparent bravado over the death penalty was part of a strategy to save him from the hangman. Very shrewdly, very cleverly Kasab has tried to save his own skin by showing he was acting as a subordinate to Abu Ismail, the lawyer said Wednesday. He knows that by denying a major role, no Indian court is going to award the death penalty, he added. Nikam further claimed that Kasab, who said he was trained by the banned, Pakistan-based group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), could be trying to help his paymasters. Five men, including key LeT operatives Zarar Shah and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, are awaiting trial in Pakistan under anti-terror laws. Nikam said it was quite possible that Pakistani prosecutors could rely on evidence heard in Mumbai but accepting Kasabs confession as a guilty plea would mean further claims yet to be examined here would not be admissible. The court has yet to hear detailed evidence about telephone calls in which the gunmen allegedly spoke to their handlers in Pakistan during the attacks. This is a very clever move made by accused Kasab just to save his bosses, Nikam added. Defence lawyer Abbas Kazmi rejected the prosecutions concept of a partial admission and argued that his clients confession should either be accepted or completely rejected. Judge Tahaliyani earlier said he was absolutely satisfied that Kasabs statement had been made voluntarily and that he was aware of the consequences. He did not give a statement with a view to getting a lesser sentence, he told the court. The hearing was adjourned until Thursday when the judge will rule on whether to accept Kasabs statement as a guilty plea or reject it and continue with the trial.