2013 Modi rally blasts: 4 get death sentence

THE National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Patna, the capital of the eastern Indian state of Bihar, on Monday (1) sentenced four convicts in the 2013 serial blasts case in the city to death. Out of nine convicts, two got life imprisonment while two got 10-year imprisonment. One person was handed a seven-year imprisonment.

Many of the blasts had taken place at Patna’s iconic Gandhi Maidan ground on October 27, 2013, when Indian prime minister Narendra Modi (he was then the chief minister of the wester state of Gujarat and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate then) was addressing a rally called ‘Hunkaar Rally’ (rally of thundering roar). Six people were killed in the blasts and the stampede that followed while scores were injured.

Last week, the NIA court convicted 10 people in connection with the case. Special NIA judge Gurvinder Mehrotra, who passed the order, acquitted one of the accused for want of proof.

Indian security officials examine debris as they search for evidence at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 28, 2013, a day after a series of explosions rocked a political rally of Narendra Modi, the then prime ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, there. (Photo by STRDEL/AFP via Getty Images)

The NIA had submitted charge sheets against 11 people as investigation proceeded. Of these, one was found to be a minor and his case was referred to India’s Juvenile Justice Board. The rest were put on trial.

“Today, all but one were convicted. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on November 1,” Special Public Prosecutor Lalan Prasad Singh, who appeared for the probe agency, told Press Trust of India-Bhasha.

Those who were pronounced guilty are Imtiaz Ansari, Haider Ali, Mujibullah, Firoz Aslam, Iftekhar, Omar Ansari, Umair Siddiqui, Ahmed Husain and Azharuddin. The court acquitted Fakhruddin, he said.

While no terror outfit claimed responsibility for the blasts, the involvement of Students Islamic Movement of India and its new avatar – the Indian Mujahideen – was suspected behind the act.