Unidentified gunmen have shot and killed Shahid Azmi, the lawyer representing one of three suspects currently facing trial over their involvement in the 2008 November Islamist terror attacks in India's financial capital city of Mumbai, said police officials on Thursday.
According to police officials, Shahid Azmi was shot by unknown attackers near his house in Mumbai late Thursday evening. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment, but was declared dead on arrival.
Azmi was the lawyer for Fahim Ansari, an Indian national accused of involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks that left nearly 170 people dead and some 200 others injured. Ansari, along with Sabahuddin Ahmed--another Indian national-- is accused of helping the ten gunmen who unleashed multiple attacks at different locations on Mumbai in November 2008.
The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, is currently facing trial in the city. All the other nine gunmen were killed by Indian security forces. Kasab, a Pakistani national, is currently facing 86 charges, including waging war on India, murder and possessing explosives.
Tensions have been high between Pakistan and India after the Mumbai terror attacks. The Indian government blames Pakistan-based militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, for the Mumbai attacks, and says it has enough evidence to prove its claim.
Pakistan initially denied any links to the Mumbai attacks, but admitted later that a part of the Mumbai terror attacks was planed on its soil, and confirmed that Kasab was a Pakistani citizen. Islamabad also ordered the arrest of Jamaat-ud Dawa chief and Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, along with three other Lashkar leaders in December 2008.
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