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Salem, Feb 16: Three AIADMK activists were on Friday sentenced to death and 25 others to seven years imprisonment by a court here in the gruesome Dharmapuri bus burning case in which three college girls were charred to death in February 2000.

First Additional Sessions Judge D Krishnaraja ordered that the three prime accused Nedu alias Nedunchezhiyan (34), then secretary of Dharmapuri town unit of AIADMK, Madhu alias Ravichandran (37), then town MGR forum functionary, and C Muniappan(45), a former panchayat chief, be hanged to death.

The three girl students of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at Coimbatore were charred to death and 18 others suffered burns when the bus they were travelling in was set on fire by the AIADMK men protesting the conviction of party supremo Jayalalithaa in a case relating to granting exemption from building norms to a hotel in hill resort of Kodaikanal.

Delivering the sentence in a packed court room, the Judge, who yesterday convicted the 28 persons, also awarded lesser punishment and imposed a total fine of Rs 59,000 each on the three for various offences including attempt to murder.

He sentenced the other 25 accused to seven years imprisonment for offences including attempt to murder. He imposed a fine of Rs 13,000 each on 24 accused and Rs 15,000 on another.

Tight security arrangements were made in the court complex in view of the judgement.

There were a total of 31 accused in the case. While two were acquitted, one person died during the trial.