Sanjay Dutt at the anti-terror court. (PTI)

Mumbai, June 1: Sanjay Dutt’s producer-friend, who supplied three AK-56 rifles and a 9 mm pistol to the actor, was today sentenced to a nine-year jail term in the Bombay blasts case.

With judge Pramod Kode opting to keep the identity of those to be sentenced under wraps till the court rises, Dutt spent a nervous morning in the courtroom. He maintained stoic silence as the court handed the jail term to friend Samir Hingora, one of the 10 connected with the actor’s case.

Hingora, convicted under Sections 120-B (conspiracy) and 3 (3) (aiding and abetting a terrorist act) on November 29 last year, was also slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh. He has already been behind bars for six years, so he will now have to serve three years in prison.

According to the CBI, Hingora had accompanied co-accused Abu Salem and Baba Musa Chauhan to Dutt’s Pali Hill bungalow on January 18, 1993, carrying the AK-56 rifles, ammunition and grenades, on the instructions of Dawood Ibrahim’s brother, Anees.

Hingora then owned Magnum Video, a firm dealing in video rights of Bollywood films, with Hanif Kadawala, who was also an accused.

The names of Kadawala, who was shot dead by the Chhota Rajan gang in 2001, and Hingora figure in Dutt’s confession. The actor told the police that the duo had offered him weapons when he was worried that his father, Sunil Dutt, and his family could be attacked in the aftermath of the communal riots.

Kode said Anees was a member of Hingora’s video library. “He (Hingora) was the main man who supplied weapons sent by Anees through Salem. He was also prevailing upon other accused to acquire weapons.” Hingora, however, had no direct connection with the blasts, the judge ruled.

With Hingora’s sentencing, two of the 10 connected with Dutt’s case have been punished. Manzoor Ahmed, who removed two of the three AK-56 rifles from Dutt’s bungalow, was sentenced to 10 years in jail on May 21.

Two probation officers today handed over a sealed envelope to Kode. The envelope is believed to contain their probation report on some of the convicted, whose identities were not revealed. Dutt and some of his friends have appealed for probation on the ground of good conduct.