A court on Wednesday sentenced to life in jail an 83-year-old man named as one of the main conspirators in bombings, which killed 257 people in Mumbai in 1993. Dawood Phanse was one of the main people taken to Dubai to meet the alleged masterminds of the blasts, fugitives Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, Judge PD Kode said. “His age was the only reason why I have not given maximum punishment” of death, he said. Phanse was also fined 4,900 dollars. After a decade of hearings, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court in Mumbai last December found 100 people guilty out of 123 accused and began sentencing earlier this month. More than 50 people, including government officials and policemen, have so far been given varying jail terms for their role in the conspiracy. The sentencing is expected to continue for weeks after one of the world’s longest trials ended last year. The “Black Friday” attacks were allegedly coordinated by Mumbai’s Muslim-dominated underworld in revenge for Hindu-Muslim religious clashes a few months earlier. |