Bollywood Star Gets Six Years

Bollywood has been shocked by the rigorous sentence against the 48-year old actor, in whom the Indian film industry has invested millions of dollars.

P.D. Kode, the special judge of the anti-terror court, disregarded the Sanjay Dutt's plea for leniency for good behaviour over the last 14 years of the trial and refused to extend his bail.

Dutt, who has already served sixteen months, was immediately taken to jail where he will spend at least two days before his lawyers re-apply for bail.

End finally

The sentencing brought to an end the long trial of the perpetrators of the 1993 serial bombings in Mumbai, which killed over 250 people and injured hundreds -- and was then the world's worst urban terror attack.

A well-known action hero who had become a cult figure over the past few years playing popular comic roles, Sanjay Dutt has retained the popular support and sympathy from the Indian film industry and hundreds of fans throughout the trial.

But the general reactions to the actor's sentence in India were mixed -- some believed the prison term was too harsh while others felt it had proved that all Indians were equal in the eyes of law.

"Harsh"

Fausin Khan, Sanjay Dutt’s neighbour and long-term associate, was disappointed: "The judge has been very harsh."

"Here," he complained, "people are more concerned about the 50 films to be released. People aren't bothered about what is happening with the man as it is."

Sanjeev Arora, a fan, also believed that the judgement was inconsiderate: "We personally feel that today’s court verdict is wrong because if you go by the social causes he supports, he is doing a lot of work for the common public and people."

"Fair"

But the student Azera Rehman thought the judgement was "fair", although she said that Dutt was a popular actor, whom she really liked. "But if he had done something wrong and it was any normal man, he would have got punished. In the eyes of the law everybody is equal -- this just proves it."

Ragini Singh, a doctor, asked why everybody was so concerned and answered: "Because he is a celebrity."

The special anti-terror court has found 100 people guilty of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. On September the 12th last year, it began delivering the verdict.

35 accused, including underworld boss Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anees and his close aides Tiger Memon and Mohammed Dossa have not yet faced trial, as they have fled the country.