POTA court sentences 3 to 5 years RI for sheltering gangsters

Ahmedabad, Jun 22 (UNI) A POTA court today sentenced three persons to five years rigorous imprisonment (RI) for allegedly providing accommodation and logistical support to two gangsters conspiring to kill a minister and an MLA in 2003.

The gangsters, Ganesh Khunte and Mahendra Jadhav, had come here to kill Health Minister Ashok Bhat and MLA from Madhavpura Bharat Barot at the behest of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

The three covicted accused are Omprakash Ramlal, Laxmi Hanuman Prasad and Manoj Ramprasad.

Additional Judge of N A Acharyaa also imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on each of them.

The court acquitted four persons, Fatima Bibi, Alam Kahn, Amir Khan and Rajesh alias Nasir.

According to police, the two gangsters had come to the city on June 20, 2003 to kill the politicians following the Godhra riots.

The local crime branch, headed by Intelligence Officer (IO) Tarun Barot, received a tip-off that the duo was in the city's Panchkuva area. When told to surrender, they began firing. In the cross-fire, the two were killed.

Laxmi is the sister of Vikram Parmar, a sharp-shooter of Chhota Shakeel. Fatima Bibi, who has been acquitted, is the wife of Vikram Parmar.

The conspiracy to kill the Minister and the MLA was meant to coincide with the rath yatra to create maximum impact which was also on the same day (June 20), government counsel Sudhir Brahmbhatt said during the trial.

UNI