In a verdict that was received with disappointment by India, a US court on Friday acquitted Tahawwur Rana on charges of plotting the 2008 Mumbai attacks but held him guilty of supporting Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) and planning a strike in Denmark that will get him a maximum of 30 years in jail.
A 12-member jury here reached a split verdict after two days of deliberations and ruled that the 50-year-old Pakistani-Canadian was not guilty of conspiracy to provide material support to the Mumbai attacks which killed 166 people, including six Americans. If he was convicted on this count, he could have received a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Announcing the verdict, US district judge Harry D. Leinenweber said Rana was guilty of providing material support to LeT, which had carried out the 26/11 attacks, and plotting to bomb Jyllands-Posten, a Danish newspaper which had published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Rana faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison on the two counts combined. No sentencing date was set.
The verdict left Rana, who was dressed in a white shirt and checkered olive blazer, stunned. —PTI