Bhopal-Ujjain train blast case: Court awards death penalty to 7 of 8 convicts
Court Awards Death Penalty To 7 In 2017 Bhopal-Ujjain Train Blast Case
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court has awarded death sentences to seven of the eight convicts in the 2017 Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast case. Another convict has been given life imprisonment.
The court awarded death sentence to Mohammad Faisal, Gaus Mohammad Khan, Azhar, Atif Muzaffar, Danish, Mir Hussain, Asif Iqbal and life imprisonment to Atif Iraqi. The court held the accused guilty under Sections 121, 121A, 122, 123 of the IPC, Sections 17, 18, 18A, 18B, 23, 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and 3/25/35 of the Arms Act.
The 2017 Bhopal–Ujjain passenger train bomb blast was a terrorist attack that took place on 7 March 2017. The blast occurred on a mainline train between 9:30 am and 10:00 am near Jabdi station in the district.
While pronouncing the sentence, Justice V S Tripathi observed that the case falls under the rarest category and therefore the convicts are entitled to the strictest punishment. As reported by PTI, the convicts had sought leniency from the court in awarding the sentence as they had already been in jail for more than five years.
However, the court dismissed their plea saying that the convicts had waged war against the country and therefore were not entitled to any leniency.
The court sent the file to the Allahabad High Court of those awarded the death penalty to confirm the death penalty as according to the law, the death penalty can be carried out only after confirmation by the high court, according to PTI.
According to Special Public Prosecutors M K Singh and K K Sharma, an FIR was registered in the case on 8 March 2017 at the Lucknow ATS police station.
The ATS received information that members of the banned terrorist outfit ISIS were planning to carry out blasts at various locations in the country. Kanpur ATS unit first arrested Mohd Faisal and later other accused were nabbed.
The public prosecutor said the accused carried out a test firing at Ganga Ghat in Unnao. Investigation also revealed that the accused had planted a bomb on the Kanpur-Unnao railway track. They also planted bombs at various places during Dussehra. The accused wanted to go to Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Mumbai via Pakistan and Afghanistan to commit a terrorist act, the probe found.
The chargesheet was filed in the case on 31 August 2017. One more accused, Saifullah, was named in the chargesheet, but he was killed in an encounter in Dubagga area of Lucknow.
