The Gujarat high court on Tuesday upheld the Prevention Of Terrorism Act court's verdict awarding the death sentence to three convicts for the 2002 Akashardham terror attack, which claimed 32 lives. The division bench of Justices R M Doshit and K M Thakar, while pronouncing the judgment, rejected the appeal of six convicts against the POTA court's verdict.
At a press conference organised in Mumbai by the Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra (Arshad Madani), which provided them free legal aid, the acquitted also demanded action against officers for prosecuting them. Five of the six accused -- Adam Ajmeri, Mufti Abdul Qyyum Mansuri, Mohammed Salim Shaikh, Abdulmiyan Qadri and Altaf Hussain -- were present at the press conference.
The Supreme Court on Friday acquitted all six convicts, including three condemned prisoners, in the 2002 Akshardham temple attack case and pulled up the Gujarat police for shoddy investigation in the case in which all the accused faced prosecution under the stringent anti-terror law, Prevention Of Terrorism Act