1998 blast: Madani cleared, S A Basha found guilty

Coimbatore, Aug 1: A Special Court today convicted Al-Umma Leader S A Basha and 12 others in the 1998 serial bomb blasts in the city while announcing that the charges against People's Democratic Party (PDP) Leader Abdul Nasser Madhany were not proved.

Delivering the much-awaited judgement, Special Court Judge K Uthirapathy found Basha, AL-Umma General Secretary Md Ansari and 11 other Al-Umma activists guilty of criminal conspiracy.

The sentences would be pronounced from August 6 onwards, after hearing the defence plea.

Mr Madhany, cited as the 14th accused in the case, got a reprieve as the Judge said the charges against him were not proved.

In all, 58 people were killed and more than 250 injured in the February 14 serial blasts that shook the city, minutes before BJP Leader L K Advani was to address an election meeting.

Soon after the Judge said that five charges levelled against the Kerala-based PDP leader Madhany were not proved, the defence counsel sought his release. Declining to accept the plea, the Judge said he had only stated that the charges were not proved and that he was not acquitting the PDP leader.

As the defence persisted with the plea, the Judge asked them to file a bail petition. However, the defence counsel contended that there was no need to file a bail petition when the charges against Maudhany were not proved.

Following this, the judge said the matter would be taken up later.

On February 14, 1998, a series of explosions rocked this city as a sequel to the communal riots here in November-December 1997 in the wake of the killing of traffic constable Selvaraj on November 29, 1997 by suspected Al-Umma cadre.

According to the special investigation team (SIT) of CB-CID, Selvaraj's murder triggered communal clashes, following which Basha, his lieutenants Mohammed Ansari, Tajudeen and Madhany had hatched a plan to wreak vengeance on the perpetrators. As much as 850 kg of gelatine and about 3,000 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were procured from the Indian Explosives Corporation of Mysore, owned by Riaz-Ur-Rahman and managed by Mohammed Dasthagir.

Basith alias Mohammed Basith was the brain behind making various types of explosives, set off at 19 different places in the city.

Of the 181 accused, seven were killed in the blasts and five of them were absconding. One of the accused, Mohammed Dasthagir, died during trial, while Riaz turned approver.

The chargesheet was filed in the Judicial Magistrate Court-V and copies were furnished to the accused on March 27, 2000. The case was transferred to Special Court on May 24, 2000.

The trial commenced on March 7, 2002, and the cross examination of witnesses completed on January 21, 2006. The prosecution filed a 17,000-page charge sheet and marked 1,731 material exhibits and 480 material objects.

UNI