Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt has been jailed for six years for holding illegal weapons for gangsters involved in India's worst bombings.

The 48-year-old actor was cleared of conspiracy charges in the serial blasts in India's financial capital of Bombay, now known as Mumbai, that left 257 people dead.

But he was found guilty of unauthorised possession of an automatic rifle and a pistol.

Dutt's trial has transfixed India and fans of Bollywood, the world's largest film industry by ticket sales. The star has millions of dollars riding on him in films under production.

The actor is the most high-profile among 100 people, mostly Muslims, found guilty in the bombings trial - one of the world's longest-running court cases.

Police said the 1993 Mumbai attacks were ordered by India's most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahim, a Muslim, to avenge the razing of a mosque by Hindus in 1992.