A special court on Friday handed death penalty to all four convicts of the Jaipur bomb blast case. Judge Ajay Kumar Sharma has sentenced all four namely Mohammad Saif, Sarwar Azami, Saif-ur Rahman and Salman to be hanged. The court had on December 18 found them guilty of the bombings.
Rajasthan Chief minister Ashok Gehlot welcomed the death sentence given by the court. He said that the verdict would be a lesson for those who believes in violence.
While the public prosecutor had cited the case to be rarest of the rare and sought that all four be hanged, counsel of the convicts Pecker Faroukh had sought leniency on various grounds.
Leniency was sought for Mohammad Saif on the ground that he is a son of a political leader (of Samajwadi Party) and does not have a criminal record while Sarwar Azmi sought leniency on the grounds that he was an engineering student, belonging to a reputed family and has already served eleven years.
Saif-ur Rahman cited his father and brother being doctors and he himself being young while Salman sought leniency on the grounds of being minor at the time of arrest and already having served eleven years.
According to experts, in case of their filing an appeal in High Court against the judgement, it would come up for hearing at an early date. This is because the HC is hearing cases of those who have been in prison for more than seven years on priority.
A series of eight blasts had rocked the walled city area of Jaipur eleven years ago on May 13 2008. The ammonium nitrate bombs had been fitted on bicycles. 71 people had been killed and 176 had been injured.
Police had registered eight FIRs and filed four charge sheets against five accused under various sections of the IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA, Explosive Substances Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Five persons were charged and tried by the court and 1296 witnesses gave their statements before the court.
Rajasthan ATS had named 11 persons as accused in the case and arrested five. Three accused Asadullah Akhtar, Ahamad Siddhi alias Yasin Bhatkal and Aariz could not be arrested as they are in Tihar Jail for blasts in other cities. While Mohammad Atik and Sajid Chhota were killed in a police encounter in Batla House in Delhi in 2008. As per Rajasthan ATS, three others involved in the case namely Mohammad Khalid, Shaadab, and Sajjid Bada are believed to be in Pakistan.
