PATNA: The Patna High Court on Wednesday commuted the death sentence of four covicts into life imprisonment in connection with the case related to serial explosions during an address by then BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at Gandhi Maidan in Patna in 2013.The serial explosions at Gandhi Maidan in Patna on October 27, 2013, had left six people dead and 89 others injured. The explosions took place different places, including near the podium from where Narendra Modi was to address the public rally. The incident was probed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the recommendation of Bihar government. Four convicts — Haider Ali, Mojibullah, Noman and Imtiyaz — were awarded death sentence by the lower court in Patna after their involvement was found in the incident, which took place ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014. Their two accomplices — Umar Siddiqui and Azharuddin — were sentenced to life imprisonment. The convicts had appealed to the high court against the verdict of the lower court. While hearing the plea of defence counsel, a bench of justice Ashutosh Kumar turned their death sentence into life imprisonment. The court maintained that the convicts were young and should have the liberty to live.The court, however, clarified that the four convicts would have to serve a sentence for 30 years in prison. It also upheld the decision of the lower court in the case of two other convicts — Umar Siddiqui and Azharuddin, who were sentenced to undergo life imprisonment. Defence lawyer Imaran Ghani said that they would move the Supreme Court against the verdict of the high court.In total, 11 accused were produced in the court during the trial. While four accused were awarded death sentence, two were awarded life imprisonment. One of them was declared a juvenile and was awarded three years imprisonment. Iftekhar Alam, Firoz Aslam and Ahmed Hussain were given lesser punishment due to lack of evidence against them. The 11th accused identified as Fakruddin was acquitted on want of evidence. The prosecution had produced 187 witnessed who were examined during the trial. The NIA had submitted its chargesheet in the case in 2014. The accused had their links with a banned terrorist outfit — Indian Mujahideen.
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