12 convicted for 2006 Mumbai train bombings
The suspected Islamic militants face possible death penalties or life in prison for the terrorist attack in India that killed 188 people and injured over 800.
An accused man (face covered), surrounded by Indian policemen, is taken to a court in Mumbai, India, September 11, 2015. An Indian court on Friday convicted 12 of 13 men accused of planning blasts that ripped through Mumbai commuter trains in 2006, killing more than 180 people and wounding hundreds. REUTERS/Shailesh Andrade
Shailesh Andrade/Reuters
New Delhi
Nearly a decade after the bombing of seven Mumbai commuter trains that killed 188 people and injured over 800, twelve suspected Islamic militants were convicted Friday. They face possible death penalties or life in prison.
The trial lasted more than seven years and concluded in August 2014, but Judge Yatin D. Shinde took one year to write the verdict. India's justice system is notoriously slow.
Schinde found 12 defendants guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy and acquitted one person for lack of evidence. He said he would announce the sentences on Monday after hearing arguments from the prosecutors and defense attorneys.
Seven bombs exploded within a span of 10 minutes during the evening rush hour on trains in Mumbai, the financial and entertainment capital of India, on July 11, 2006.
Prosecutors said the conspiracy was hatched by Pakistan's Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, and carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives with help from the Students' Islamic Movement of India, a banned militant organization.
The 12 convicted in the case were believed to belong to the Indian militant group.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group. Pakistan has denied the Indian claims.
The neighboring countries have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947 and have been engaged in a fitful peace process in recent years.