AHMEDABAD, June 25: An Indian court jailed nine Muslims men for life on Monday for the 2003 assassination of the former home minister of the western state of Gujarat. Haren Pandya was a state legislator and senior leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party when he was shot dead in his car as he was about to step out of the vehicle for a morning walk. The convict included Asghar Ali, who shot the 53-year-old politician and was subsequently arrested from Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s main city.

The court said they had conspired to kill Pandya and had links with Pakistan-based Islamist group Lashkar-i-Taiba.

Two others were sentenced to seven years and another to five years for being a part of the plot.

Pandya had been named by several witnesses as one of the instigators of anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat in 2002 that left at least 1,000 people dead.—Reuters