Bollywood star Dutt granted bail

Dutt has a huge fan following in India

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, jailed for buying weapons from bombers who attacked Mumbai in 1993, has been granted bail by India's Supreme Court.

Dutt, who was sentenced to six years in jail by a court in July, has been in prison since 23 October.

The actor was cleared of conspiracy, but found guilty of illegally possessing a rifle and a pistol.

Dutt is the most high-profile of 100 people convicted in connection with the blasts which killed 257 people.

Dutt, 48, is one of Bollywood's most bankable stars, and found fame playing gangsters and anti-heroes.

His trial generated huge interest among Bollywood fans across India.

The son of a Hindu father and Muslim mother, Dutt said the weapons were necessary in order to defend his family during the Hindu-Muslim rioting of 1993 that followed the destruction by Hindu zealots of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.

The Mumbai blasts were allegedly carried out by Mumbai's (Bombay's) Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for the riots, in which most of those killed were Muslims.