All the 37 accused in Imam Ali case get sentence

Madurai, Jan 10 (UNI) A fast track court here today convicted and sentenced all the 37 accused in the 2002 Imam Ali escape case to imprisonment of various terms.

An Al-Umma activist, Imam Ali and Hyder Ali, both accused in a couple of bomb explosions and murder cases, were rescued by an armed gang on March 7, 2002 from the Tirumangalam police station near Madurai.

District and Fast Track Court Judge G Savitri awarded A Syed Ali, (police), Fakruddin, Abdul Nainar, Jagubar Sadiq Ali, Shajahan and Akbar Saleem to seven years of imprisonment while 31 others were handed down five years of jail term.

Although a fine was also slapped on each of them, the amount would be decided later. All the 37 accused are said to be either Islamic fundamentalists or their associates.

After the escape of Imam Ali and Hyder Ali, the investigation into the case was handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

On September 28, 2002, Imran Ali along with three others were killed by the SIT team in an encounter in Bangalore while 37 others were arrested of the 42 accused.

All 190 witnesses, including five from defence, were examined.

Besides, 215 documents and 107 articles were also examined by the court.

UNI