NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th January, 2021) An anti-terrorism court in Pakistan on Friday sentenced a mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks to 15 years in prison on terrorist funding charges, media reported.
Lahore's Anti-Terrorism Court issued the sentence to Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a leader of the Islamist terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, and fined him 300,000 Pakistani rupees (approximately $4,000), according to the Express Tribune newspaper.
Lakhvi was found guilty of running a medical dispensary with the aim of collecting funds for militant activity although the court believes he maintained a high rank in the group's chain of command, the newspaper reported.
Lakhvi has been the Primary suspect in the case since 2015 but was released under bail for the duration of the trial, much to the ire of Indian authorities. He was rearrested on January 2 and found guilty on three charges, each of which carries with it a five-year sentence and a 100,000 rupee fine.
The attack began on November 26, 2008, when 10 armed terrorists arrived in Mumbai by boat from Karachi and unleashed a rampage that left 166 people dead and over 300 injured. The attackers holed up in a hotel where a two-day standoff ensued that ended in their extermination by Indian special forces.
