[JURIST] A special Indian terrorism court on Monday found Ashrat Ansari, Hanif Sayed Anees, and Fehmida Sayed guilty of planning and carrying out a 2003 bomb attack in Mumbai [BBC backgrounder] that killed 52 people. They were convicted [PTI report] of conspiracy, murder, and attempt to murder under the country's 2002 Prevention of Terrorism Act [text] and other laws, and are suspected of belonging to the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) [CFR backgrounder] terrorist group. Sentencing for the three is scheduled for August 4, and prosecutors have said they plan to seek the the death penalty.

Mumbai has suffered a number of terrorist attacks allegedly linked to the LeT in recent years, leading the government to consider controversial terrorism laws and institute special courts [JURIST reports] to try suspects. Earlier this month, India announced that it would continue the trial [JURIST report] of a man suspected in a 2008 Mumbai hotels attack [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive] that killed more than 100 people despite his earlier admission of guilt [JURIST report]. Also this month, Pakistan began the trial [JURIST report] of five other men with possible ties to the 2008 attack. In 2006, authorities charged 30 people [JURIST report] for their connections to Mumbai train bombings [JURIST news archive] that occurred that year, after a lengthy investigation and the arrest of hundreds [JURIST reports].