A court yesterday sentenced three people to life imprisonment for their role in bombings in Mumbai in 2002-2003 that killed 13 people and injured more than 100, officials said.
Those sentenced to life in jail are Muzammil Ansari, an engineer charged with planting the bombs, Farhan Khot and Wahid Ansari.
“The case is going on for 13 years ... Some might be pleased and some might not. I have tried to give justice,” judge P R Deshmukh said.
In March, the special court looking into terrorism cases in Mumbai convicted 10 people in connection with three bombings between December 2002 and March 2003 that were handled together.
In addition to the three life sentences, the court yesterday gave seven other convicts jail terms ranging from two to 10 years.
Four others were given 10 years’ jail term: Saquib Nachan, the general secretary of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Ateef Nasir Mulla, Ghulam Kotla and Hasib Zubeir Mulla.
Three convicts were given two years’ jail term. They are Mohamed Anwar Ali, Mohamed Kamil and Noor Mohamed.
The first blast took place in a McDonald’s outlet in Mumbai Central railway station on December 6, 2002 in which several people were injured; one person was killed in the second blast in a crowded market in the Vile Parle East area on January 27, 2003; and 12 died in the third in a local train at the Mulund railway station on March 13, 2003.
According to the Mumbai police, the blasts were planned by SIMI members and the Pakistan-based militant organisation the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Of the 24 accused in the case, 10 have been convicted and three acquitted. Five others have died and six are thought to be on the run.
Nachan has been sentenced for his role of arranging the manpower, arms and ammunition while Ansari and some on the run have been punished for manufacturing the bombs.
The police had charged all the accused with murder, attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt, waging war against the nation, criminal conspiracy besides several charges under the Indian Penal Code, Railways Act, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act and Prevention of Terrorisn Act (POTA).
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUeM) Maharashtra, which provided legal aid to the accused, expressed happiness no one was sentenced to death but said it would challenge the verdict in the Bombay High Court.
A JUeM spokesman also urged the government to set up fast-track courts to dispose of terror-related cases within two years so that the accused, who are finally acquitted, do not spend prolonged periods in jail.