NEW DELHI: The Juvenile Justice Board, Patna, in its first judgment in the Patna and Bodh Gaya Blasts cases has convicted a juvenile and sentenced him for three years in each of these cases for involvement in the conspiracy of carrying out serial blasts at both the places.
On October 27, 2013, during ‘Hunkar’ rally of the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at the Gandhi Maidan, Patna, a series of bomb blasts had taken place at the rally site. The explosions had left six persons dead and 89 injured.
Following the incident, a case was registered by the Gandhi Maidan Police Station in Patna and subsequently the case was re-registered by the NIA on November 1, 2013 under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code including 120-B (criminal conspiracy), murder (302) besides various provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act and Railway Act.
In an earlier incident on July 7, 2013, the Bodh Gaya temple complex was rocked by a series of explosions just after the Morning Prayer. A total of 13 bombs were planted at the Buddhist shrine complex, out of which 10 bombs exploded and three live bombs were recovered and defused.
“It appeared that the bomb blasts were carried out with an intention to kill innocent persons including foreign pilgrims, especially Buddhists in order to create terror at a place of worship. Accordingly a case was registered by the Bodh Gaya Police Station, Bihar which was later re-registered by the NIA,”” the NIA said in a statement.
The Bodh Gaya blast case was registered for offences under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC besides relevant provisions of the Explosive Substances Act and UA (P) A.
“During the investigation of these cases, it surfaced that the juvenile accused was involved in the conspiracy of bomb blasts in both the cases,” the NIA said in a statement after conviction of the juvenile in these cases on Wednesday.
Till now, 11 accused persons have been arrested in the Patna serial bomb blast case and six in the Bodh Gaya serial bomb blasts case. The trial in both the cases is at an advanced stage and judgments are expected soon.