Dharmapuri trial : Victims relatives cry, convicts vow appeal

Salem, Tamil Nadu, Feb 16 (UNI) Relatives of the victims of the Dharmapuri bus burning case wept as First Additional Sessions Judge D Krishnaraja delivered the verdict in the case today after seven long years of trial.

The tightly-packed courtroom watched in pin-drop silence as three AIADMK partymen were sentenced to death and 25 others to rigorous imprisonment.

Stringent security arrangements were in place with five metal detectors and a ring of security personnel manning the court room.

The court convicted 28 people yesterday in the ghastly incident in which three girl students of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) were burnt alive when a mob torched the bus in the aftermath of former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's conviction in the Pleasant Stay Hotel Case in 2000.

The three AIADMK acitivists -- Nedu alias Nedunchezhian (41), Madhu alias Ravindran (44) and Muniappan (52) -- however, claimed to be the victims of political vendetta unleashed by the DMK and said they would approach the High Court where ''justice will be done''.

However, the victims' parents x x x eds picking up here from line one para six of MS22 LAW-TN-BUS-COURT ROOM.

UNI