Court acquits 3 in robbery case connected to IC 814 hijack

Mumbai, Jan 19 (PTI) A local court today acquitted threepersons charged with looting a bank, and later transferring apart of the booty for the hijack of Indian Airlines flightIC-814 in December 1999.

Sessions court here acquitted Abdul Latif and BhopalmanYusuf Khan. Both the men have been convicted and sentenced tolife imprisonment for their role in the hijack by CBI court inDelhi in 2008.

Besides, court here also acquitted one Mushtaq Ahmed.

According to the prosecution, the trio, on October 6,1999, robbed Maharashtra State Co-operative bank in suburbanBorivali and fled with Rs 7 lakh cash.

They were arrested on December 30, 1999 and policeclaimed to have recovered around Rs 2 lakh from them. Thepolice also said that they recovered AK-56 rifles, handgrenades and rocket launchers from their house in Jogeshwari.

The trio was booked under sections 390 (robbery) and120(b) (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code, as well asunder the Arms Act and the Explosives Substances Act.