Nine years after the 1998 Coimbatore serial blasts, a sessions court today (August 1) began delivering the verdict on the 166 accused. Syed Ahmed Basha, founder of the Al-Umma and the main accused has been found guilty along with Mohammed Ansari, Tajuddin and Fazal.
Key accused Abdul Nasser Madhani, accused of conspiring with Basha, has been acquitted of all charges. Madhani is the Chairman of Kerala-based People's Democratic Party. Madhani's lawyer, Akbar Ali reflects his clients relief as he confirmed the exoneration, and said Madhani and him were very satisfied and grateful to the judiciary, media and all their well wishers.
A series of 19 blasts took place on February 14 1998, that claimed 58 lives and left over 167 injured. The sessions court is handing out the verdict to the 166 accused, a majority of whom are members are Al-Umma.
The main accused included the founder of Al Umma Syed Ahmed Basha who has been found guilty, its general secreatry Mohammed Ansari and Abdul Naseer Mandhani who has been acquitted. All the accused have been lodged in jails across Tamil Nadu for the past 9 years.
Acquittal leaves BJP unhappy
BJP Ravi Shankar Prasad, spokesperson for BJP, said that the BJP demands in light of the acquittal of Abdul Naseer Mandhani, accused in the '98 Coimbatore blasts case, every effort be made to file an appeal against the special court judgement acquitting him.
Even as the court pronouces the verdict in the 9-year old case, the memory of that fateful day has come back to haunt those who witnessed the blasts.
Says eye-witness R.S. Puram in Coimbatore, "The first blast killed 3 people, and a tempo was found parked here. As soon as I heard a blast, I came here and saw bodies and people were screaming. I took my auto towards the theatre and saw more bodies."
Meanwhile Khurshid, the mother of an accused in the case from Karunanidhi Nagar, told TIMES NOW her son was innocent.
"It's been 10 years since they took away our sons, for an accident that happenend somewhere else. They just caught my children and took them away. I have faith that they'll come back. I pray to Allah," she said.
