(Eds: Rpting after correcting dateline)Sonepat (Har), Oct 10 (PTI) A court here today awardedlife imprisonment to 75-year-old Abdul Karim Tunda in the 1996Sonepat bomb blasts case.
The court of Additional District and Sessions judge DrSushil Kumar Garg pronounced life sentence to Tunda, a dayafter it found him guilty, Tunda's counsel Ashish Vats said.
Tunda will now be lodged in the Dasna jail in Ghaziabadas many cases are pending against him in other parts of thecountry as well, Vats said.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on him, hesaid.
"Abdul Karim Tunda was yesterday held guilty undersection 307 (attempt to murder) and 120 B (criminalconspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 3 ofthe Explosive Substances Act (punishment for causing explosionlikely to endanger life or property)," he said.
While recording his statement in court in Septemberthis year, Tunda had maintained that he was in Pakistan at thetime of the bomb blasts.
At least 15 persons were injured in twin blasts inSonepat in December 1996. One of the blasts took place near acinema hall and the other near a sweets shop.
The lawyer said 43 witnesses, including those who wereinjured in the blasts, had recorded their testimony during thetrial.
Tunda, suspected LeT bomb expert, was arrested from theIndo-Nepal border at Banbasa on August 16, 2013. He is alsosuspected of involvement in some other blast cases across thecountry, some of which are still pending.
Tunda was one of the 20 terrorists India had askedPakistan to hand over after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. PTI SUNCHS VSDADS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.