NEW DELHI: A court here on Monday sentenced two Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants to seven years' rigorous imprisonment for possessing arms and explosives. Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur also slapped a fine of Rs. 50,000 on each of the convicts -- Shahid Ahmed Bakshi, a resident of Ahmedabad, and Farhan Ahmed Ali, a resident of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. The court had held them guilty on July 30 under various provisions of the erstwhile Prevention of Terrorism Act pertaining to unauthorised possession of arms, ammunition and explosives. The accused had also been charged with conspiring to kill Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and some "Sangh Parivar" activists. However, the court acquitted them of the charges as the prosecution could not prove them.
According to the prosecution, the accused were arrested at Nizamuddin here on August 30, 2002, with 4 kg of RDX, two detonators and a Chinese-made pistol along with magazine and 15 live cartridges. It had alleged that the accused had conspired to murder Mr. Modi and others to take revenge for the riots in the aftermath of the Godhra incident. They were also assigned the task of carrying out terrorist attacks in the country, the prosecution had alleged. The court had also absolved the duo of the charges of conspiracy to wage war against the State for want of evidence.