NIA court awards death penalty to 7 convicts in Ujjain-Bhopal train blast case
Lucknow (PTI): A special NIA court here on Tuesday awarded death penalty to seven alleged ISIS operatives in the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train blast case in which nine people had got seriously injured.
Another accused in the 2017 case was awarded life imprisonment.
Those who were awarded death sentence included convicts Mohd Faisal, Gaus Mohd Khan, Mohd Azhar, Atiq Muzaffer, Mohd Danish, Mohd Sayyed Meer Hussain and Asif Iqbal alias Rokey. Mohd Atif alias Asif Irani was given life imprisonment .
Pronouncing the sentence, Judge V S Tripathi observed that the case fell in the rarest of rare category and as such the convicts were entitled to the severest punishment.
The court had convicted the accused on February 24 and fixed Tuesday for pronouncement of its verdict. It had found the accused guilty under sections 121, 121A, 122, 123 of IPC, sections 17, 18, 18A, 18B, 23, 38 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and 3/25/35 of the Arms Act.
On quantum of sentence, the convicts had pleaded that they had already been in jail for over five years and as such the court must show leniency in awarding sentence to them.
Refuting the plea of convicts, the court said that the convicts waged war against the country and hence they were not entitled to any leniency.
The court sent the case file to the Allahabad High Court of those who have been awarded death penalty for confirmation of the capital sentence as it is the law that the death penalty can be executed only after confirmation by the high court.
According to special public prosecutors M K Singh and K K Sharma, an FIR in the case was registered with ATS police station in Lucknow on March 8, 2017. The ATS had received information that members of banned terror outfit ISIS were planning to conduct blasts at different places in the country.
The ATS' Kanpur unit first arrested Mohd Faisal and later on other accused were nabbed.
The state counsel said that the accused had conducted a test blast at Ganga Ghat in Unnao.
In the probe, it also came out that the accused had planted a bomb on Kanpur-Unnao railway track. They had also planted bombs at different places during Dussehra. The accused wanted to go to Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Mumbai via Pakistan and Afghanistan to commit act of terrorism, according to the probe findings.
The charge sheet was filed in the case on August 31, 2017.
In the charge sheet, one more accused, Saifullah, was named but he was killed in an encounter in Dubagga area of Lucknow.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
T'gana RTC strike: Talks between govt, employees successful
Hyderabad (PTI): Talks between employees of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (RTC) who were on strike and the state government concluded successfully on Friday as the government agreed to the key demands of the workmen.
Following a day-long marathon of talks between the leaders of the employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) and the cabinet sub-committee, the government announced after midnight that it acceded to the demands, including a merger of RTC with the government, 11 per cent pay revision and elections to the employees' unions.
A committee comprising officials and employee leaders would be appointed over the merger of RTC with the government, it said.
The RTC management has also agreed to address the remaining issues as well, an official release said.
The employees would call off their strike and the RTC buses would hit the roads shortly, it said.
The employees had been on an indefinite strike since April 22 over a series of demands, including the merger of RTC with the government.
Earlier in the day, a driver of the RTC, who attempted suicide on April 23 during the strike, died at a hospital here in the early hours of Friday.
Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old driver, set himself ablaze by pouring petrol at Narsampet in Warangal district when the employees were staging a protest on Thursday in support of their demands.
Goud suffered serious burns, was initially admitted to a state-run hospital in Warangal, and later shifted to a super-speciality hospital in Hyderabad for advanced treatment.
"He succumbed (to injuries) at about 1.30 am on Friday," a senior official said.
The driver’s body was taken to his relative’s village, Muttojipet in Warangal district, for funeral rites.
Tension prevailed in Muttojipet as his family members and RTC employees attempted to take the body to the Narsampet bus station, where he worked, to enable his colleagues to pay their last respects. However, police did not permit this, citing law-and-order concerns.
This led to a deadlock before the funeral could proceed.
Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar criticised the Telangana government for not allowing the body to be taken to the Narsampet bus station.
Kumar, Minister of State (Home), visited Muttojipet village in Warangal district, where the funeral was held, and paid homage to Goud.
“They (family members) want to take the body to the bus depot for five minutes. Is the RTC bus depot in Pakistan or Bangladesh? They are emotionally attached to taking the body there. The government is hurting sentiments and creating fear among RTC employees,” Kumar told reporters.
He also expressed anger at the police for not allowing the body to be taken to the bus station and staged a protest, according to a release from his office.
RTC employees and BJP workers attempted to take the mortal remains in an ambulance to Narsampet, but were stopped by the police.
Later, after discussions with the police, the family members and RTC employees agreed to conduct the funeral in the village.
Sanjay Kumar, stating he would abide by the family’s decision, left the village after the funeral was conducted there.
Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh, a house, and a government job would be provided to the kin of Goud.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy expressed shock over the employee’s death and conveyed deep condolences to the grieving family, according to the release.
The RTC employees’ JAC had earlier announced an agitation programme from April 24 to 29, including silent marches and submission of memorandums to MLAs and other leaders.
