Reuters AlertNet Lite - Indian court verdict on Bollywood actor next week

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Indian court verdict on Bollywood actor next week

24 Nov 2006 12:32:09 GMT
Source: Reuters

MUMBAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - An Indian court is expected to deliver its verdict next week on a top Bollywood actor facing charges of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bombings, the public prosecutor said on Friday.

Sanjay Dutt is charged with conspiracy, illegal possession of arms and trying to destroy evidence in connection with the serial blasts in which 257 people were killed and hundreds wounded, one of India's worst attacks.

"There are five charges against Sanjay Dutt. We have to see what the court says," public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told Reuters.

He said the court was expected to begin giving its verdict on a group of nine people that includes Dutt on Monday, but the order against the actor could come the next day.

Nikam refused to comment on the punishment the actor could get if found guilty.

Dutt, 47, who has earned fame playing gangsters and the anti-hero, has said he is innocent and pleaded not guilty. He was freed on bail after spending more than a year in prison during investigations.

The Mumbai court has so far found 83 people, mostly Muslims, guilty among the 123 accused in the bombings, blamed on a Muslim crime boss, Dawood Ibrahim, believed to now be in Pakistan.

Police say Dawood ordered the 1993 bombings to avenge the razing of a 16th century mosque by Hindu zealots. Ibrahim and his top associates have not faced trial as they fled the country soon after the blasts, they say.

Dutt -- whose latest comedy sequel "Lage Raho Munnabhai" (Carry on Munnabhai) was a superhit -- has told television channels that he was worried about his future.

"I'm nervous, I'm apprehensive," he told one channel in a recent interview. "I'm going to bow my head and take whatever comes my way. And I will accept whatever the honourable court says to me."

Dutt's father is Hindu and mother, Muslim. He is the son of respected actor-turned-politician Sunil Dutt, who died last year, and Nargis, one of Bollywood's top actresses, who died in 1981.

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Last updated:Fri Nov 24 12:34:37 2006