22 March 2017•Update: 22 March 2017
By Shuriah Niazi
NEW DELHI, India
A special court in northern India’s Rajasthan state on Wednesday sentenced to life two convicts for their roles in the deadly bomb attack on the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinudding Chisti in 2007.
On March 8, the court convicted Bhavesh Patel, Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi in the case, and acquitted six other accused.
Joshi was found dead on Dec. 29, 2007, under mysterious circumstances just weeks after the shrine blast in Dewas city of Madhya Pradesh in October 2007.
The special National Investigative Agency court in Jaipur city found Patel responsible for planting the explosives at the blast site, while Joshi and Gupta were guilty of conspiracy.
Judge Dinesh Gupta had convicted Gupta, Patel and Sunil Joshi under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including the Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The court had acquitted the main accused, right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand, along with five others in the case on March 8.
Aseemanand was an accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case as well that left at least 68 people dead. He was also an accused in the Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad city that left 14 people dead.
The 2007 shrine attack took place during the month of Ramadan in October 2007, leaving three people dead and 15 others injured.
Police had initially blamed Muslim extremist groups for the blast, but later on the focus shifted to Hindu extremist groups following a confession made by an accused.
