NIA Court convicts 9 accused in 2013 Gandhi Maidan blasts at PM Modi's 'Hunkar' rally

An NIA court on Wednesday convicted 9 accused in the 2013 Gandhi Maidan, Patna serial blasts case, while one accused was acquitted in the absence of evidence. Six people were killed and over 90 were injured in serial blasts that rocked Bihar's capital on October 27, 2013. The explosions had taken place at the venue of then Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's "Hunkar" rally. 

Two bombs had gone off at around 12.25 PM, just 20 minutes before then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and top BJP leaders such as Rajnath Singh and late Arun Jaitley took the stage. The explosions occurred a mere 150 metres from the platform where PM Modi was to deliver his speech. Later, four more live bombs were discovered near the rally venue. However, Modi had refused to cower down and had decided to go ahead with the rally and address the public. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the NIA Court on November 1. 

NIA investigation in Patna Gandhi Maidan blast

The NIA had taken over the investigation in November 2013 and had unearthed a plot to assassinate Modi who was the Prime Ministerial candidate for BJP in the 2014 General Elections. After probing the incident, nine Indian Mujahideen (IM) suspects and Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were named as the accused in the case. Mastermind behind the attack Hyder Ali alias ‘Black Beauty’, Taufeeq Ansari, Mojibullah and Numan Ansari were arrested in the case in 2014. 

The NIA filed a charge sheet against the 11 accused on August 21, 2014. In its charge sheet, the NIA revealed that terrorists had failed to get close to Modi at previous rallies in New Delhi, Chhatisgarh and Uttar Pradesh and had planned the Patna blasts. The minor accused was sentenced on October 12, 2017, for three years by the Juvenile Justice Board while another accused Tariq Ansari died while trying to plant a bomb inside a public toilet at the Patna Junction railway station.

(With Agency Inputs)