Mumbai attacks defence lawyer shot dead

INDIA: A lawyer representing one of three men accused of involvement in the deadly 2008 Mumbai attacks has been shot dead, police said Thursday.

Mumbai police said only that defence lawyer Shahid Azmi had been killed and his body taken to a city hospital.

No further details were immediately available, although Indian media reports said he had been shot several times at point blank range by a number of armed men who burst into his office.

A senior police source indicated to AFP that the shooting was not connected to the high-profile trial taking place at a top security prison in the city.

Lawyer Ujjwal Nikam, who is prosecuting the case against Pakistani national Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, said that Azmi was representing co-accused Fahim Ansari.

Ansari and fellow Indian national Sabauddin Ahmed are accused of providing key logistical support for the 10 Islamist extremist gunmen, including Kasab, who attacked the country’s financial capital on November 26-29, 2008.

A total of 166 people were killed and more than 300 others injured.

Mumbai, Friday, AFP