2013 Patna serial blasts: 4 convicts sentenced to death

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A special NIA court in Patna on Monday sentenced to death four of the nine persons it had held guilty of carrying out bomb explosions during then NDA Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's 'Hunkar Rally' in Gandhi Maidan in 2013.

The special National Investigation Agency court had on October 27 convicted nine out of 10 accused.

Out of the other convicts, two have been given life sentence, two others 10 years imprisonment, and one 7 years imprisonment.

Gurvinder Singh Malhotra, the special judge of the NIA court, announced the quantum of punishment 8 years after the serial bomb blasts that shook Patna on October 27, 2013 during the Hunkar rally. The case was transferred to the NIA on November 6, 2013.

The four convicts who have been awarded the death penalty are Imtiaz Ansari, Haider Ali alias Black Beauty, Noman Ansari and Muzibullah Ansari. Umar Sidiqqi and Azaharuddin Kuresi have been given life imprisonment, while Ahmed Hussain and Feroz Aslam were awarded 10 years rigorous imprisonment and Iftikhar Alam has been given a 7-year jail term.

The court said that the charges of sedition, criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder and UAPA levelled by the NIA have been proven.

Narendra Modi came to Patna to address a rally for the 2014 parliamentary elections. While he was addressing the rally, serial bombs exploded in Gandhi Maidan, the venue of the rally as well as at Patna railway station. Six persons died and over 89 persons were injured in the blasts.

One accused Faqeuddin was acquitted by the NIA court for lack of evidence. All those convicted are suspected members of the Indian Mujahideen and the Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

The convicts had detonated 7 Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) while 10 others did not explode at the rally venue.

The NIA recorded the statements of over 250 witnesses in the case since it took over on November 6, 2013. All the convicts are currently lodged in Patna's Beur jail.

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