Coimbatore serial blasts case judgment today

The accused include People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Abdul Nazar Mahdani, leaders of the banned Al Umma, and

Syed Ahmed Basha and his deputy Mohammed Ansari.

Sessions Judge K Uthirapathy is expected to pronounce the sentences after August 6, when he would hear the arguments by the defence.

A tight security cordon is in place to ward off any trouble in the town, known to be a communal hotbed.

The bomb blasts had gone off on the afternoon of February 14, 1998, just minutes before Advani was to deliver his speech. Apart from the lives lost, Rs 14 crore worth of property was damaged.

The Special Investigation Team of the Crime Branch-CID, which probed the case along with the city police, arrested 168 people. While most of the arrests took place in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, one of the accused was held in Kolkata.

Most of the accused belong to the Al-Umma, founded by Basha, and the Jehad Committee. Both the outfits were banned soon after the bombings. While one of the accused subsequently turned an approver, another died in custody.

According to the SIT’s 17,000-page chargesheet, the Coimbatore bombing was codenamed ‘Operation Allah-u-Akbar’ and executed to avenge the killing of 18 Muslims in communal riots and police firing triggered by the murder of a traffic police constable in November 1997.

A communally sensitive town since the early 1990s, Coimbatore has seen several incidents of violence and murder. The riots that followed the killing of the police constable had virtually crippled the town for months.

In the White Paper he tabled in the Assembly, then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi blamed the Babri Masjid demolition in December 1992 for the spread of religious fundamentalism in Tamil Nadu.

The conspiracy to assassinate Advani when he visited Coimbatore had been hatched by Al Umma chief Basha, his deputy and general secretary Mohammad Ansari and PDP leader Mahdani in Kerala and Coimbatore, Karunanidhi added.

Case file

The prime accused

• Abdul Nazar Mahdani: Leader of People’s Democratic Party, prominent Islamic leader of Kerala. Top Kerala politicians, including CM V S Achuthanandan, have been seeking his release. Also said to enjoy support of Tamil Nadu CM

• Syed Ahmed Basha: Al-Umma founder who rose very fast to prominence is also named in the blast at an RSS office. Basha’s brother and his son also accused in the Coimbatore case

• Mohd Ansari: Basha’s deputy

The case

• February 14, 1998: 19 bomb blasts across Coimbatore, 58 dead

• April 7, 2000: Special Court constituted to try cases

• October 23, 2000: Charges framed

• March 7, 2002: Trial commences, 1,300 witnesses examined

• June 2006: Prosecution and defence arguments begin

• April 10, 2007: Arguments end