A Pakistani court sentenced Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, a senior leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group, to five years in prison for terrorist financing.
Lakhvi was accused by India and the United States of orchestrating the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008, in which at least 160 people were killed.
He was sentenced on Friday to three simultaneous five-year sentences.
The court found Lakhvi guilty of collecting and dispersing money for terrorist attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
He was arrested on Saturday in Pakistan’s Punjab province, where he ran a medical dispensary, which the state’s anti-terrorist team said he used to collect funds.
The United States welcomed Lakhvi’s arrest last weekend, calling it “an important step towards holding him accountable for his role in supporting and financing terrorism”.
“We will follow his charge and sentence closely and ask that he be held responsible for his involvement in the Mumbai attacks,” the United States Department of State said on Twitter.
Lashkar-e-Taiba – “Soldiers of the Pure”, based in Pakistan, gained prominence two decades ago after carrying out armed attacks in Kashmir and India administered by India.
India claims that the group was involved in an armed attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001, which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.
Ten armed men from the group attacked Mumbai in 2008, carrying out attacks on two luxury hotels, a train station, a hospital, a Jewish cultural center and a few other targets in Mumbai.
Lakhvi was quickly cited by India as one of the main suspects in the attacks. Indian officials said Lakhvi spoke to the attackers during the trip and may have maintained contact during the attacks. They said he was identified by the only surviving sniper, who said Lakhvi helped “indoctrinate all the attackers”.
He was arrested in Pakistan, allegedly at a training camp in Lashkar-e-Taiba, on December 7, 2008, and arrested in 2009.
Six years later, he returned to the headlines when a Pakistan anti-terrorism court tried him for the Mumbai murders ordered his release on bail, and in April 2015, he was released from prison.
During his more than five years in prison, Lakhvi was said to have received special treatment, including uninterrupted access to guests, cell phone use and internet access, keeping him in effective contact with Lashkar-e-Taiba troops.
Last year, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Saeed, was also sentenced to prison in Pakistan.
Indian officials have accused Pakistan of secretly supporting the militants and suggested that the verdicts are linked to pressure on Pakistan from the international terrorist financing body, FATF.
Pakistan expects to be removed from the organization’s “gray list” at a meeting in February.