Mumbai attack suspect’s lawyer shot dead

[HAIDER]

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

Mumbai police said 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 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 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.

“It’s very sad news. He was an intelligent lawyer. In the midst of the trial it’s a big loss,” Nikam told AFP, adding that a meeting would now be held to discuss future representation before the trial resumes later this month.
DAWN.COM | World | Mumbai attack suspect?s lawyer shot dead

 

[Chanakyaa]

There is No such news so far, if true its very shameful and sad incident.
What has the Lawyer to do with this ?

 

[hembo]

Shahid Azmi, lawyer to 26/11 accused, shot dead
Thu, Feb 11 10:43 PM

Mumbai, Feb 11 (IANS) Lawyer Shahid Azmi, who was defending one of the key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks trial, was shot dead in his office late Thursday evening, police said.

Some unidentified persons barged into Azmi's office in Taximen's Colony in Kurla, north-east Mumbai suburb, just before 9 p.m. and opened fire at him.

Azmi sustained four bullet injuries and was taken to the nearby Rajawadi Hospital in a critical condition, where he died later.

Azmi, 34, represented Fahim Ansari, one of the key accused in the ongoing 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks trial.

Among other things, Azmi's client Fahim - a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) activist - is charged with preparing the groundwork to help the perpetrators of the terror attacks.

At the tender age of 15, Azmi was arrested for violence during the communal riots that rocked Mumbai between December 1992-January 1993.

In 1992, Azmi was accused of plotting to kill Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray.

Charged under the now-defunct Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA), Azmi was awarded a five-year sentence in 1999, but was acquitted the same year by the Supreme Court.

When he was in jail between 1992-1999, he studied for a post-graduate course and after acquittal by the apex court, he studied for a law degree before entering legal practice.