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6 get life term in Jubilee Hill blast case

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

Six of the 14 accused in the sensational Jubilee Hill car bomb blast case in Hyderabad were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Special Designated Court on Wednesday.

The bomb blast claimed 25 lives two years ago. The main accused have indicated that they would move the Andhra Pradesh high court to appeal against their conviction by the Special Court.

Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge of the Special Court Samudrala Govindarajulu, who pronounced the judgement in a packed court, acquitted eight other accused due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Those convicted for life are prime accused Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri, Varikoti Prabhakar Reddy, Kultoori Vasudeva Reddy, Ramasani Anand Reddy, Moreddygari Laxmi Reddy and S Pavan Kumar Reddy.

They were convicted under sections 302 (murder) and 120 B (conspiracy) (Indian Penal Code) and sentenced to undergo 14 years' rigorous imprisonment. All the accused were also asked to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 each and, in case of default, to undergo a further imprisonment of one year.

The blast killed 25 persons, including the six-member crew of ETV. The main target of the improvised bomb -- Telugu Desam Party legislator and former minister Paritala Ravindra alias Ravi -- escaped with minor injuries. Prominent Telugu film actor and member of Parliament Mohan Babu had a miraculous escape.

The state government constituted a special court on October 1, 1998, to try the case and the trial commenced amidst tight security on December 7, 1998. The trial concluded in about an year, with as many as 234 of the 435 identified witnesses from the state, besides Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Goa, examined by the court. The witnesses included prominent film producer and member of Parliament D Rama Naidu and Paritala Ravi.

Pavan Kumar Reddy, an engineering student and resident of Bangalore, who operated the remote device detonating the car bomb, was convicted to life on 25 counts under sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324, 326 (causing grievous injuries) and 435 (endangering human lives) IPC and asked to pay fines totalling Rs 125,000. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Those acquitted are: Nagireddygari Dasi Reddy, S Bhaskar Reddy, Kummari Nagaraju, Bujjula Venkata Padmanabha Reddy, Thopudurthi Prakash Reddy, T Chandrasekhara Reddy, Tagarakunta Sivaprasada Reddy and Ramireddy Narasimha Reddy. While Dasi Reddy is a confidant of Suri, Narasimha Reddy, a sub-inspector of police in Karnataka, is his brother-in-law.

Seven other accused in the case -- R Ranga Reddy, T Krishnappa, Rajasekhar Reddy, Chandrasekhar, Srinivas, Prasanna Kumar and Ramappa -- are still at large.

Suri, who carried a reward of Rs 500,000 on his head before his arrest at Chitradurga on December 7, 1997, unsuccessfully contested the recent assembly elections from Penukonda in Anantapur district against Paritala Ravi.

The judge directed the state government to pay a compensation of Rs 100,000 each to the next of kin of those killed in the bomb blast if no such compensation or ex-gratia had been paid so far.

The judge observed that the bomb blast could have been averted had the state government not withdrawn the case against Paritala Ravi in the Anantapur television blast case in which Suri's father was killed. In that case, Ravi was one of the accused. Since then, Suri has been trying to wreak vengeance and accordingly the bomb blast had been triggered at Jubilee Hill to kill Ravi.

The special public prosecutor indicated that the government would appeal to the AP high court against the acquittal of the eight accused. Suri said that he and other convicted persons would seek bail and file an appeal in the AP high court against their conviction.

The government had also appointed an enquiry commission headed by Justice B V Ranga Raju to probe the causes behind the bomb blast.

The commission has since submitted its report to the state government.

The state cabinet, at its meeting on December 15, accepted the report of the Ranga Raju commission. The government did not disclose the findings of the commission. It, however, suggested that the issue of factionalism be discussed with all sections of the society to find a solution to this law and order problem.

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