Patna: Four men have been sentenced to death by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court, for their role in the 2013 blasts ahead of Narendra Modi’s address at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan that left six dead and 89 others injured. Of the five other convicts in the case, two were sentenced to life imprisonment, another two were awarded a 10-year jail term, and one 7 years in jail.
The incident occurred on October 27, 2013. Explosions hit Patna’s historic Gandhi Maidan, the venue of a ‘Hunkar Rally’, which was to be addressed by Narendra Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha polls. The explosions took place shortly before Modi arrived. Ahead of the blasts at Gandhi Maidan, another explosion took place at the Patna railway station.
It was revealed through later investigations that the blasts were engineered by the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and a Ranchi module of its new avatar, the Indian Mujahideen. Last week, the special NIA court convicted nine out of 10 accused in connection with the serial blasts, while one of the accused was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
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NIA counsel and Special Public Prosecutor Lalan Prasad Singh had told media that the agency submitted charge-sheets against 11 people. Of them, one was a minor and his case was sent to the juvenile justice board. Others were put on trial. Imtiaz Ansari, Mujibullah, Haider Ali, Firoz Aslam, Omar Ansari, Iftekhar, Ahmed Husain, Umair Siddiqui and Azharuddin were convicted in the case and one Fakhruddin was acquitted.
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