Chennai, August 1
Nine years after a series of explosions rocked Coimbatore, a special court today convicted 73 persons including leaders of the outlawed fundamentalist organisation Al-Umma for killing 58 people and injuring more than 200. However, it acquitted the president of Kerala's People's Democratic Party (PDP) Abdul Nasser Madhani.
Special judge K. Uthirapathy today convicted Al-Umma chief S.A. Basha, the prime accused, and its general secretary Mohammed Ansari of criminal conspiracy, supplying and transporting the bombs.
All of them were found guilty of hatching a criminal conspiracy to trigger a series of explosions at Coimbatore, 600 km from here, on February 14, 1998, and to create enmity between two communities.
Delivering the judgement amidst tight security, the judge said the major charge under Section 120b (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC had been proved against 73 of the 166 accused.
He said that the charges against eight persons had not been proved. He deferred the verdict against five accused and said there were minor charges against the remaining accused.
The judge is expected to pronounce the sentences on August 6 after hearing arguments from the defence.
The fundamentalist outfit Al-Umma and a huge contingent of Islamic activists were behind a conspiracy to kill BJP leader L.K. Advani on February 14, 1998, and also avenge the death of 18 Muslims in communal riots in Coimbatore in the last two months of 1997.
The serial blasts not only killed and injured people but destroyed property worth more than Rs 15 crore and shocked South India as it revealed the extensive network of the Al-Umma.
PDP leader Madhani who has been ailing and languishing in jail for the past nine years has been acquitted of all five charges and was released on bail.
Not only prominent persons from South India but also the Kerala Assembly had passed a resolution appealing for Madhani's release and a compassionate approach as he is physically challenged.
The Tamil Nadu police special investigation team probing the blasts said Al-Umma carried out the operation code named "Operation Allah Ho Akbar" to avenge the death of Muslims in an earlier communal riot and assassinate Advani because of his alleged
involvement in the demolition of the Babri mosque.
The then DMK government did not initiate any action though there was a specific tip-off from the Central intelligence agencies about the conspiracy.
Instead, after the blasts, the DMK tried to make the Coimbatore police commissioner the scapegoat.
Despite a demand for a CBI probe, Karunanidhi refused and handed the case over to the CB-CID of the Tamil Nadu police which raided dozens of hideouts and huge quantities of explosives, detonators, timers, guns and ammunition were seized across the state.
More than 200 people were arrested and the trial which began only in 2002 examined around 1,300 witnesses out of 2,345.
