Coimbatore blasts case: Court to pronounce sentence today
Coimbatore,
Oct
24:
A
court
here
today
will
pronounce
sentence
to
70
persons,
who
were
convicted
for
their
involvement
in
the
1998
Coimbatore
serial
bomb
blasts.
All
were
found
guilty
of
major
charges
like
criminal
conspiracy
and
murder.
The
founder
leader
of
Al-Umma
S
A
Basha
and
its
General
Secretary
Mohammed
Ansari
are
among
the
70,
who
were
convicted
on
August
1
after
being
found
guilty.
Eighty-eight
convicted
of
charges
such
as
attempt
to
murder,
possessing
explosives
and
promoting
communal
hatred
were
sentenced
to
imprisonment
ranging
from
21
months
to
nine
years.
As they had already served their prison term as undertrials, the Special Judge K Uthirapathi had ordered their release.
Tight security arrangements have been made in Coimbatore. A three-tier security ring has been placed around the court. The movement of public and vehicles has also been restricted around the court.
Police is also keeping a constant vigil on all sensitive pockets in the district.
In
the
case,
the
prosecuting
agency
registered
cases
against
168.
Of
these,
one
accused
died
in
prison
and
another
turned
approver.
Of
the
166
accused,
a
total
of
158
have
been
convicted
of
various
charges,
while
eight
have
been
acquitted.
Among
the
eight
not
found
guilty
are
PDP
leader
Abdul
Nasser
Madhani.
They
were
also
released.
Twelve
blasts
rocked
the
city
on
February
14,
1998
that
killed
58
and
injured
over
200
others.
The
blasts
were
targeted
at
a
venue
where
senior
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP)
leader
L
K
Advani
was
scheduled
to
address
a
meeting.
In
April
2000,
a
Special
Court
was
formed
to
try
the
cases,
and
in
the
same
year
(October
2000),
charges
were
framed.
The
trial
started
in
March
2002,
and
has
examined
1,300
witnesses
out
of
a
total
of
2,345.
The
arguments
began
in
June
2006
and
ended
on
April
10,
2007
.
The
Special
Investigation
Team
of
Tamil
Nadu
Crime
Branch-Criminal
Investigation
Department,
which
probed
the
cases,
has
argued
that
"Operation
Allahu-Akbar",
was
part
of
a
conspiracy
to
eliminate
Advani.
ANI
>