Nine years after the Coimbatore blasts meant to target an election rally of the then home minister L K Advani ripped through Coimbatore that killed 58 people and injured 250 others, a local court has begun giving out its verdict.Chief of the fundamentalist Islamic group Al Umma, S A Basha, who masterminded the blasts, has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy, which could invite a maximum punishment of life imprisonment.
''There was no conspiracy because the PSOs of Basha who were present at his Chennai residence where the conspiracy was alleged to be hatched, have not breathed a word about it,'' said P Thirumalairajan, defence lawyer.
However, Abdul Nasser Madhani, the PDP leader who has considerable clout in Kerala can walk free. None of the charges against him from criminal conspiracy to making inflammatory speeches has stood judicial scrutiny.
Madhani's political clout came to the fore when the Kerala assembly passed a resolution demanding his release on bail and the Tamil Nadu government was even accused of even converting his present cell into a sort of ayurvedic spa.
Nine years after the textile city got entangled in a web of terror its a mixed bag for both the prosecution and the defence.
Seventy three accused persons have been found guilty of criminal conspiracy, eighty two are eligible for bail and eight have been acquitted.
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