'Mumbai attack plotter innocent'

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan yesterday urged India's top court to spare the life of a convicted bomb plotter due to be hanged this week, declaring him innocent and sparking a political furore.

The Supreme Court is expected on Monday to hear a last-ditch appeal from Yakub Memon, convicted of being a key plotter of a series of bomb blasts that killed hundreds in Mumbai two decades ago -- the deadliest such attacks in India's history that killed 257 people.

The court had last week rejected what was believed at the time to be a final appeal from Memon, paving the way for his execution on Thursday after more than two decades in jail.

Khan described Memon, an accountant by profession, as innocent, sparking protests outside his house.

"One innocent man killed is killing the humanity," Khan said on Twitter where he has 13.1 million followers.

"Get Tiger, hang him. Parade him not his brother," Khan said referring to Memon's brother Tiger, whom police say masterminded the attacks and who is still on the run.

The actor later retracted the comments after uproar from the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the opposition and a prosecutor involved in the case.