PATNA: A National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Patna sentenced six accused to imprisonment and imposed fines under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a 2016 case related to planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED)on railway tracks near Ghorasahan in Bihar’s East Champaran district. In a press statement issued late on Saturday, the investigating agency said that the accused were involved in planting a pressure cooker IED on the railway track on September 30, 2016, with a motive to blast a passenger train coming from Narkatiaganj in West Champaran district. However, the major incident was averted as some local residents spotted the IED and informed the local police, who later defused the explosive.The accused were identified as Umashankar Raut, Gajendra Sharma, Rakesh Kumar Yadav, Mukesh Kumar Yadav, Motilal Paswan and Ranjay Kumar Shah alias Ranjay.Two of the accused were arrested by the East Champaran district police during the investigation and two others were nabbed later by NIA from different places. Meanwhile, the sixth accused had surrendered in February 2017. The NIA filed the chargesheet against all the accused persons in July, of the same year. On September 24 this year, the NIA court headed by special judge Abhijit Kumar found the accused guilty and fixed October 5 as the date for the verdict. The court announced the quantum of the sentences against them under relevant sections of IPC, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substance Act and Railway Act.The court, in its verdict, charged five years to 12 years of imprisonment for all the accused along with a fine ranged from Rs.5,000 to Rs.12,000. If the accused fail to pay the penalty, then their imprisonment would be extended to another three months.Meanwhile, sources in NIA said that three accused were still absconding in the case.The NIA has submitted chargesheet against nine accused.
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