2013 Patna blasts case: NIA court convicts 10, acquits one; verdict on 1 Nov

Patna: A special NIA court on Wednesday convicted 10 people in connection with the serial blasts that took place in Patna in 2013 during a political rally of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the chief minister of Gujarat. Special NIA judge Gurvinder Mehrotra, who passed the order, also acquitted one of the accused for want of evidence. “The NIA had submitted charge-sheets against 11 people in the course of investigation. Of these, one was a minor and his case was referred to the juvenile justice board. The remaining were put on trial.” “Today, all but one were convicted. The quantum of sentence will be pronounced on 1 November,” Special Public Prosecutor Lalan Prasad Singh, who appeared for the probe agency, told Press Trust of India Those who were found guilty are Imtiaz Ansari, Mujibullah, Haider Ali, Firoz Aslam, Omar Ansari, Iftekhar, Ahmed Husain, Umair Siddiqui and Azharuddin. The court acquitted Fakhruddin, he added. The blasts had taken place at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan on 27 October, 2013 when the BJP’s ‘Hunkar Rally’ addressed by Narendra Modi, who had been declared the party’s prime ministerial candidate, was underway. The explosions and the ensuing stampede had claimed six lives, while many were injured. Although no terror outfit claimed responsibility for the serial blasts, the involvement of SIMI and its new avatar, the Indian Mujahideen, have been suspected.