Three Kashmiri militants get death penalty for Delhi bombing

Apr 22, 2010, 13:02 GMT

New Delhi - A court in New Delhi Thursday sentenced three Kashmiri militants to death for a 1996 bombing in a city market that claimed 13 lives, a news report said.

District and Sessions Judge SP Garg handed down death sentences to Mirza Nissar Hussain, Mohammed Naushad and Mohammed Ali Bhatt from the Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF) after finding them guilty of murder, the IANS news agency reported.

The court gave a life sentence to another JKIF militant, Javed Ahmed Khan, who was also convicted of murder.

Farida Dar, the lone woman convicted, was given a jail term of four years. Farooq Khan was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment. Dar and Khan were convicted of offences including possession of explosives.

The court acquitted four others due to lack of evidence, the report said.

The blast took place on May 2, 1996 in the busy Central Market area of Lajpat Nagar, killing 13 people and injuring 39.

Last week, the prosecution sought the death penalty for those found guilty of murder while the defence asked for leniency and a sentence of life imprisonment for them.

The defence sought life imprisonment on the grounds that they had already spent 14 years in jail during the trial.

The convictions have already sparked protests in India-administered Kashmir where the accused come from.

More than 45,000 people - civilians, militants and security personnel - have been killed in the past two decades in a violent secessionist movement that has gripped the troubled Indian Kashmir.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir, which is divided into two parts administered by the two countries.

India has accused Pakistan of nurturing militancy in the region. Islamabad denies the charge, calling the militants freedom fighters.