A Pakistani anti-terror court adjourned till August 29 the trial of five Lashkar-e-Tayiba operatives, including its operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, accused of involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Judge Baqir Ali Rana of anti-terror court no 2, who is conducting the trial in the high-security Adiala Jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, put off the matter after hearing arguments by the prosecution and defence, sources said.
Journalists are barred from covering the trial being conducted inside the prison for security reasons and specific details of today's proceedings were not immediately available.
However, sources said the counsel for the Federal Investigation Agency, which probed the Mumbai attacks and arrested the five LeT operatives, argued that the proceedings should be conducted in-camera in view of the sensitivity of the matter.
The counsel for the five LeT operatives submitted petitions seeking copies of the First Information Reports and two chargesheets drawn up against the accused by the FIA, the sources said.
Shahbaz Rajput and Sardar Tariq Masud, the lawyers representing the five LeT operatives, told PTI that the judge had adjourned the matter till August 29 after hearing arguments by both sides.
Rajput and Masud said the accused had not received copies of key documents, including the FIRs and chargesheets. The five LeT operatives -- Lakhvi, the group's communications expert Zarar Shah, Abu al-Qama, Hamad Amin Sadiq and Shahid Jamil Riaz have been charged under the Pakistan Penal Code, Anti-Terrorism Act and a cyber crimes law.
They have been accused of providing training, financial support, accommodation, equipment and communications gear to the 10 terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November last year.
The trial of the five men was held up for over a month due to the non-availability of a judge. It resumed after Judge Rana was recently appointed to the anti-terror court no 2.
