(dpa/NAN)
An Indian court sentenced five men to death on Wednesday for the multiple blasts on Mumbai’s local trains in 2006 that killed 189 people, lawyers said.
Gulzar Azmi, representative of the organisation providing legal aid to the accused made this known to newsmen in New Delhi.
A total of 12 accused were found guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy among other charges by special judge YD Shinde two weeks ago.
“Four other convicts were given life in prison while the remaining three were given varying jail terms,’’ Azmi said.
Azmi said the decision would be challenged in a higher court.
The men given death sentences were those who had planted the bombs on Mumbai’s busy rail network.
The coordinated blasts in India’s financial hub on July 11, 2006 also left over 800 injured.
Indian investigators alleged that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency planned the blasts and they were carried out by the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group with help from the Students’ Islamic Movement of India, a banned group.
However, Pakistan rejected the allegations.
Meanwhile, 15 people accused of involvement in the attacks, including the alleged masterminds, have never been caught.
