Rajasthan: Four terrorists sentenced to life imprisonment in live bomb case

Jaipur, April 8 (IANS) A special court in Rajasthan on Tuesday sentenced four terrorists to life imprisonment in the case of live bombs found during the serial bomb blasts in Jaipur in 2008.

The court issued a 600-page verdict on Tuesday.

On May 13, 2008, there were eight serial blasts in Jaipur, and the ninth bomb was discovered near a guest house in Chandpole Bazaar. It was defused just 15 minutes before it could explode.

The court remarked, “The greatest court is our mind… our mind knows what is right and what is wrong… punishment has been given, which means the crime has been committed.”

Earlier on Tuesday, during the sentencing debate, government lawyer Special PP Sagar Tiwari called for life imprisonment for the accused, stating, “The act of the culprits is the most serious crime. They cannot be treated with leniency under any circumstances.”

The defense lawyer for the accused, Minhajul Haq, argued: “The culprits have already served 15 years in jail. The High Court has acquitted them in the other eight cases. Given this, they should be given the minimum punishment based on the time already served.”

On Friday, the special court convicted all four defendants in the live bomb case. The four terrorists - Saifurrahman, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, and Shahbaz Ahmed - were convicted in connection with the live bomb case.

The four terrorists were convicted under four sections of the Indian Penal Code, two sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and three sections of the Explosive Substances Act. These sections carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Except for Shahbaz, the others were initially sentenced to death in the serial bomb blast case, but the High Court acquitted them.

The state government's appeal against the death sentence is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

The ATS arrested all the accused in the live bomb case from jail on December 25, 2019. The ATS had presented a supplementary charge sheet in the live bomb case, which included three new witnesses.

During the hearing, the ATS recorded statements from a total of 112 witnesses, including journalist Prashant Tandon, former ADG Arvind Kumar, and bicycle tightener Dinesh Mahawar.

--IANS

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