Hindi film star Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to six years imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai Serial Bombings case.

In one of the longest criminal trials in history, Dutt was implicated in the series of coordinated blasts which ripped across Mumbai on March 12th 1993, killing 257 people and injuring 700 in a single day, making them the most deadly terrorist attacks in Indian history.

The sentence devastated the actor and his millions of fans and sent misery through the Indian film industry, which could lose billions from his uncompleted projects.

In a long drawn out trial, Dutt was eventually cleared of the most serious crime of active conspiracy, but was found guilty of acquiring three AK56 assault rifles and a 9mm pistol from perpetrators of the attack, during the same period of time in which the attacks were planned.

The blasts were plotted by the Muslim dominated underworld in retaliation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992, but Hindus such as Sanjay Dutt, with clearly documented links with Dawood Ibrahim’s “D-Company” gang were also privy to the plot.

The talented actor became one of the most unpopular figures in the Indian public mind for his association with the blasts in the mid to late 90s, but a series of positive performances, including several patriotic and moralistic roles, as well as much publicised family visits to famous Hindu shrines once again made him a much loved figure. Noteworthy recent performances include his roles in Lage Raho Munnabhai and Shootout at Lokhandwala, two of the biggest hits of 2006 and 2007 respectively. In the latter film, he plays an anti-terror cop in Mumbai.

It is quite ironic therefore that within months of playing that role he was himself sentenced for association with the worse ever terrorist attack in Mumbai!