A special court trying the serial blasts case on Monday sentenced five activists of the Deendar Anjuman to undergo four years rigorous imprisonment for possessing explosive substances. It also sentenced 38 activists of the organisation to six months rigorous imprisonment for criminal conspiracy. They have also been fined Rs 1,000.
As the accused have already been lodged in the Cherlapally Jail for four-and-half years in judicial custody, they will be released on Tuesday. However, 17 of the accused, who are wanted in connection with cases in Karnataka, will be handed over to the Karnataka Police. Special Court Judge P Sri Sudha acquitted the Deendar activists in 11 cases related to the blasts. In all, there were 14 cases.
The Deendar activists were accused of triggering serial bomb blasts in churches in Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka in the beginning of the year 2000 to create communal tension. They also planted bombs in mosques and temples. Defence counsel R Mahadevan said that the prosecution failed to prove any case related to the blasts. The accused had been convicted for possessing explosives and for criminal conspiracy, he pointed out.
The five activists sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment are Shaik Fardin, Mohammed Azeemuddin, Mohammed Humayun Khan, Shaik Iqbal Ahmed and Khaja Moinuddin. The family members of the accused expressed happiness at the judgment. Deendar activists too were joyful. "With this judgment, my faith in the Indian judicial system has gone up," said Shamsh-Uz-Zama, a resident of Nuzivid in Krishna district.
Deendar activists said they will
continue to preach their ideology after being released. "We are happy,
but we will stick to our ideology," said Hasham Ali from Bangalore.