M A I N   N E W S

Death penalty for 3 Pak ultras

New Delhi, April 27
Three Pakistani militants belonging to the Harkat-ul-Ansar outfit were today sentenced to death by a Delhi court for kidnapping four foreign tourists, including an American, in 1994 in a case in which Omar Sheikh was one of the accused.

Special Judge S.N. Dhingra while sentencing to death Nazir Khan, Abdul Rahim and Naser Mehmood Sodozy, awarded life sentence to Nurul Amin, Mohammed Sayeed and Mahmood.

The court, however, had earlier dropped charges against British national Sheikh, who is facing trial in Pakistan in kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

The charges against him were dropped as part of a deal by the government with militants to secure the release of the hijacked Indian Airlines passengers to Kandahar in 1999.

Finding Khan, Rahim and Sodozy guilty of kidnapping the foreign tourists, making them hostage the Special Judge said “I sentence these three accused persons to death under Section 3 (2)(1) of TADA.”

The court also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on each of the six accused, including three Indians sentenced to life imprisonment.

On default of payment of the fine, the three convicts awarded to life imprisonment, would undergo rigorous imprisonment of two years each, the court ruled.

Amin and Mehmood were further sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for harbouring the other terrorists at various hideouts in Delhi.

Two accused Hazi Samim and Mohammed Yamin, residents of Uttar Pradesh, were acquitted by the court. PTI