Five accused in Bodh Gaya blasts case convicted
Patna, May 25 : A Bihar court on Friday convicted all the five accused in the 2013 serial blasts that rocked Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple.
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court headed by Judge Manoj Kumar Sinha delivered the verdict.
"The five persons -- Umer Siddiqui, Azharuddin Siddiqui, Hauser Ali, Mujibullah Ansari, Imtitaz Ansari -- were convicted by the court after the hearing was completed," NIA lawyer Lalan Kumar Sinha told reporters here.
The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on May 31.
The NIA said the blasts on July 7, 2013, were carried out with an intention to kill domestic and foreign pilgrims, especially Buddhists in order to create terror at a place of worship.The blasts injured five people including two monks. No casualties were reported.
The Bodh Gaya temple is a Unesco World Heritage site. The Buddha attained enlightenment around 2,500 years ago.
As many as 13 bombs were planted, out of which nine or 10 exploded while three live bombs were defused.
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Salman Khan demands apology from ANI for alleged defamatory article
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Salman Khan has filed a legal notice demanding an apology from Asian News International (ANI) for an alleged defamatory article.. The article, published on September 4, 2024, includes comments from Amit Mishra, the lawyer representing Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal—two individuals accused in the firing incident outside Khan’s residence.
The article reportedly suggests that Gupta and Pal have been threatened by members of the underworld, specifically mentioning connections to gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company, and add that Khan has “known links” with a gangster and perhaps want to get Pal and Gupta killed, as reported by Live Law on Thursday.
Khan's legal team has contended that these allegations are “absolutely false,” "misguided," and "misconceived," asserting that the actor is a victim of the criminal act that was perpetrated upon him by certain individuals. The notice emphasised that the allegations were made with an intent to tarnish Khan’s image and reputation.
The notice highlighted that the allegations made in the published article constitute both a criminal offence under Section 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and is also a civil act of tortuous wrong defamation, Live Law added.
Khan has requested an unconditional apology from ANI and Mishra within 48 hours and has called for the removal of the article from the agency’s website.
