Surat, October 4
Former Congress minister Mohammad Surti and four others were today sentenced to 20 years in prison, while seven others were awarded a 10-year jail term in the 1993 Surat blasts case.
A Tada court earlier in the day convicted the 12 in connection with the two blasts in the Surat city in which an eight-year-old girl was killed and 31 others were injured.
Former minister of state for fisheries Surti and four others-Hussain Ghadiyali, Iqbal Vadiwala, Mustak Patel and Yusuf Dadu, were sentenced to 20 years
imprisonment by special Tada court judge R P Dholadia, who also slapped a fine of Rs two lakh each on the five.
Seven others were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, while one was acquitted. There were 21 accused in the twin-blast case out of which 13 were arrested while eight were absconding.
The blasts had taken place in January 1993 in Varachha area and on the platform number one of Surat railway station during the communal riots that broke out after the demolition of Babri Masjid.
The blast at Varachha had claimed the life of Alpa Patel and injured 11 others, while that on the railway station had wounded around 20 people. Around 160 witnesses had deposed in the case.
— PTI
