NEW DELHI, July 1: An Indian court handed down death sentences on Saturday to three Islamic militants accused of masterminding the massacre of 29 devotees in a Hindu temple in 2002 in Gujarat state, officials said.

Another militant was sentenced to life while two others received 10 years and five years for the attack on the Akshardham Temple which also claimed the lives of two Indian commandos, court officials told the Press Trust of India.

Special Court judge Sonia Gokani said she held the three main accused, Adam Suleman Ajmeri, Abdul Kayum and Mohammed Hussain Mansuri from revolt-hit Kashmir, “directly responsible” for the September 24, 2002 temple carnage in Gujarat’s state capital of Gandhinagar.

India blamed the attack on the pan-Islamist Lashkar-i-Taiba guerilla force fighting New Delhi’s rule in held Kashmir, but responsibility for the massacre was claimed by the previously unknown Tehreeq-i Qasas rebel group.

The group said their attack was in retaliation for anti-Muslim riots that erupted in Gujarat in February 2002 and claimed the lives of 2,000 people, mostly Muslims.—AFP