 Bollywood star convicted on weapons charge
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Bollywood superstar Sanjay Dutt was found guilty Tuesday of illegal weapons possession but cleared of a more serious charge of conspiracy in 1993 bomb attacks in India's financial hub Mumbai that left 257 dead.
The verdict against the 47-year-old action hero was delivered by Justice Pramod Kode in a packed Mumbai courtroom in a batch of judgements being handed down against 123 accused.
"I did not find him to be a terrorist or capable of destruction," the judge said. "He kept the weapons only for his protection."
The court later extended Dutt's bail until December 19 when he will have to surrender to the court, the chief prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.
The burly actor, who was freed on bail after serving 18 months in jail, has insisted he was only armed to protect his family.
Dutt faces a maximum three-year sentence but lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani said since the actor had already served 18 months and was a first offender he might not serve any additional time.
Dutt, the son of two prominent actors, has denied any knowledge of the plot.
The "Black Friday" attacks were allegedly masterminded by Mumbai's at the time Muslim-dominated underworld in revenge for deadly Hindu- Muslim religious clashes a few months earlier.
The alleged masterminds of the blasts, Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, have been on the run since 1993. Indian investigators say they were aided by Pakistan's intelligence service but Islamabad has denied any link.
Including Tuesday's verdicts, the special court has now convicted 91 people and acquitted 23 people in the Mumbai bombings case.
Dutt's sister Priya, a member of India's national parliament, expressed relief over the verdict. "It is the prayers of everyone that worked," she said.
The star's conviction came as his latest comedy Lage Raho Munnabhai (Carry on Munnabhai), in which he plays a mobster with a heart of gold, has been playing to packed houses across the nation.
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