Police charged the man they say is the lone surviving gunman in last year's Mumbai attacks with "waging war" against India and included two Pakistani soldiers among 37 others charged today, government officials said.
Laying out the first formal charges in the case, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters that those named included Indians and Pakistanis who are accused of planning and abetting last November's attacks that killed 179 people.
The attacks on India's financial hub sparked renewed tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.
Rakesh Maria, the chief Indian investigator in the case, said two Pakistan army officials accused of training the gunmen were among those charged but he did not give their names or rank.
Those charged as key planners of the attacks included Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, founder of the militant Islamist Lashkar-e-Taiba group India says was behind the attacks, and other senior Lashkar members Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Zarar Shah.
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, identified as the lone surviving gunman, did not appear in court because of security concerns. The next hearing of the case is on March 9.
If found guilty, Kasab and those charged with waging war with India could face death sentences.
None of the accused have so far entered pleas.
"The charge sheet has 35 wanted (accused) and three accused who are under arrest," Nikam said, waving a copy of the voluminous document with pictures of the attack on its covers.
He said he hoped the trial would be completed in 3-6 months.
"Considering the magnitude and gravity of the offence, the court gave us permission to carry out further investigations. We will file a supplementary charge sheet after that," he said.
Nikam said the accused included two arrested Indians, Fahim Ansari and Sabauddin, who are Lashkar members accused of scouting Mumbai landmarks before the attacks.
The charge sheet, which runs to some 11,000 pages, contains accounts of more than 2,200 witnesses as well as other evidence provided by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which helped Indian police with the probe.
Reuters