Coimbatore blasts: Special court verdict on Oct 24

Coimbatore, Oct 10: Special Court Judge K Uthirapathy said pronouncement of sentences for 70 people convicted of serious charges, including on Al-Umma President S A Basha and Secretary Mohammed Ansari in the 1998 Coimbatore Serial Blasts Case, would commence on October 24.

The court would also pronounce sentences for the 12 accused on whom minor charges, excluding criminal conspiracy was proved on Oct 15. Of the 12 accused, Samsudeen, Abudakeer, Jamjith Ahamed, Bugari Alias Ummar, and Sultan alias Sithiq Ali, had already convicted to life imprisonment in other cases.

A total of 76 accused had been sentenced in the case so far with the verdict being set off against the period already spent in prison as undertrials.

The serial bomb blasts which rocked this textile city on February 14, 1998 claimed 58 lives, injured over 250 people and destroyed several crore rupees worth of property.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CB-CID arrested 168 people, including Kerala Based People's Democratic Party (PDP) President Abdul Nasser Madhani.

The Judge acquitted eight, including Madhani. One of the convicts Mohammed Dustagir died in custody.

Minor charges other than criminal conspiracy were proved against 88 accused while major charges like criminal conspiracy were proved against 70 accused. One of the accused, Riaz-ur-Rahman, turned an approver.

UNI