Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, October 27
Special NIA court of G S Malhotra on Wednesday found nine activists of banned SIMI guilty of death of six people and injuries to 90 in serial bomb blasts at Gandhi Maidan here on October 27,2013
Court will announce the quantum of sentence on November 1. Prosecution has demanded death penalty for all convicted accused.
Fahim Uddin, one of the accused was acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence. All the convicted accused are from Azamgarh (UP), Raipur (Chhattisgarh) and Ranchi ( Jharkhand).One had died in explosions at platform number ten of Patna junction
Explosions took place during the first election rally addressed by the then chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, named PM candidate by the BJP. During the Hoonkar rally of Modi, over a dozen bombs were exploded the sprawling maidan in all directions.
Of these, 5 including Hyder Ali were earlier convicted by the same court for their involvement in Bodh Gaya bombings in July ,2013 and awarded lifers.
Last week, accused who were brought from Kolkata had pleaded guilty before the court. Those found guilty by special court included Firoz Alam, Haider Ali, Imtiyaz Ansari,Iftekhar Alam, Ahmad Hussain, Azharuddin Qureshi,Nooman Ansari, Muniullah, Umar Ansari.
Prosecution NIA had produced 189 witnesses in the Court.