A special National Investigation Agency court in Patna on Friday sentenced all five accused in the 2013 Bodh Gaya serial blasts case to life imprisonment, ANI reported. The court had convicted them in the case on May 25.
The convicts planted 13 improvised explosive devices in Bodh Gaya on July 7, 2013, of which 10 exploded. Four bombs went off at the Mahabodhi temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, while six exploded within a kilometre of the temple. Five people, including two Buddhist monks, were injured.
Umer Siddique, one of the convicts, has claimed that the blasts were carried out to avenge the atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.
The five are also among the 10 people accused of carrying out serial blasts in Patna on October 27, 2013, killing seven people and injuring 89. The explosions were set off to disrupt Narendra Modi’s “Hunkar Rally” ahead of the 2014 General Elections, Siddique reportedly told investigators.
One of the conspirators, Tariq Ansari, died after he was seriously injured while setting up a bomb. A juvenile involved in both the cases was sentenced to three years in a remand home in October.
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