PATNA: A special NIA court on Friday convicted five Indian Mujahideen terrorists in the 2013 Bodh Gaya serial blasts case in which several people, including Buddhist monks were injured.
Special NIA judge Manoj Kumar Sinha held all the five accused — Imtiyaz Ansari, Haider Ali, Mujib Ullah, Omair Siddiqui and Azharuddin Qureishi — guilty under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act and the Explosives Act.
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on May 31. Taufiq Ahmed, the sixth accused in the case, was less than 18 years of age.
He was sentenced to three years in remand home by a juvenile court last year.
All the six accused have also been associated with the banned organisation SIMI and are facing trial in the Patna blasts case of October, 2013 when the Gandhi Maidan was rocked by explosions during an election rally.
Hailing the court order, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said, “Those involved in terrorist activities have no religion or creed. They deserve stern punishment.”
Defence lawyer Surya Prakash Singh said NIA had failed to produce CCTV footage and a security guard, who was present at one of the sites when the explosions took place, had failed to recognise the accused.
However, public prosecutor Lalan Prasad Sinha pointed at the association of all the accused in terrorist activities and statements recorded by as many as 90 witnesses during the trial.