The trial of the only suspect in the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai has begun in India under heavy security in a specially reinforced courtroom.

Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman, also known as Kasab, was arrested after more than 170 people were killed and 300 injured in a three-day killing rampage through India's commercial capital by 10 armed men.

The 21-year-old Kasab, said to belong to the banned Pakistan-based group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, faces charges including waging war on India, murder, attempted murder and kidnapping.

He faces the death penalty if convicted.

Kasab, the nine dead attackers and 35 other suspected Lashkar members wanted over the attacks, are charged with carrying out a "heinous criminal conspiracy" against the city and people of Mumbai and India.

"This was with the express intention to destabilise India, wage war against the country, terrorise its citizens, create financial loss and issue a warning to other countries," the charge sheet read.

Two Indian nationals, Fahim Ansari, 35, and Sabauddin Ahmed, 24, are also on trial on charges of providing the group with logistical support before the attacks.

Single-judge bench

The trial is taking place before a single judge without a jury because of security fears.

All pre-trial hearings have been held either behind closed doors or via video link.

The courtroom at Mumbai's Arthur Road jail was last used to try suspects over the deadly 1993 bomb blasts in the city. It has been reinforced and a bomb-proof tunnel has reportedly been built from Iman's cell after he received death threats.

Traffic will be banned from around the prison for the duration of the trial, which is estimated to last up to six months with testimonies from as many as 2,000 witnesses.

Anjali Waghmare, Kasab's state-appointed lawyer, was criticised for accepting the case and attacked by angry Indians.

She has been given the highest level of police protection.

'Conclusive' links

Prosecutors say they have evidence that "undoubtedly and conclusively" links the attacks to Pakistan, including mobile and satellite phone communication between the armed men and their [Lashkar] "handlers".

Kasab's DNA and fingerprints were found on items retrieved from the hijacked Indian fishing trawler the men used to get to the Mumbai coast, it is alleged.

There is CCTV and other footage allegedly of him at Mumbai's main railway station, where more than 50 people were killed when two attackers opened fire with AK-47 assault rifles and threw grenades.

Thirty witnesses also picked him out in identification parades, the charge sheet said.