Lahore: Pakistan's interior ministry has abruptly removed the chief prosecutor from the Mumbai terror attack case for "not taking the government line", an official said on Sunday.

The development is a setback to India's efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice. Ten Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists had sailed into Mumbai from Karachi and carried out coordinated attacks, killing 166 people and injuring over 300 in November 2008.

"The interior ministry has removed Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) special prosecutor Chaudhry Azhar, who had been representing as chief of prosecution in the Mumbai attack case since 2009, from the high-profile case," an FIA official said.

"However, he will continue to represent the state in other cases, like the Benazir assassination."

Azhar developed differences with the government over the "manner" the case was being pursued, the official said.

"The government has its own 'special consideration' in this case and Azhar perhaps is not taking the government line. He was keen to follow the high-profile case by the book," he added.

Azhar only confirmed that he had been taken off the Mumbai attack case. "I am no more with this case," he said.

The government offered no explanation. "It seems to be a routine matter. I will have to talk to the relevant persons to know the reason," an official of the interior ministry said.

None of the Mumbai attack suspects in Pakistan has been punished yet, suggesting the case had never been a priority to Islamabad, which appears keen to push it under the carpet.

The scheduled weekly hearings hardly take place. PTI