Delhi's Lajpat Nagar blast: Three get death sentence

NEW DELHI: Fourteen years after a blast rocked Lajpat Nagar market killing 13 people and injuring 39, a session court on Thursday awarded the death sentence to three convicts. The fourth person convicted in connection with the blast was given the life sentence.

Mohd Naushad, Mirza Khan and Ali Bhat were sentenced to death by the court today.

Earlier this month, the court had convicted six accused in the case, all belonging allegedly to a Kashmiri militant group.

The court also acquitted 4 others involved in the case due to lack of evidence against them. Out of six convicted persons, four have been held guilty for murder, attempt to murder and criminal conspiracy. The two others have been convicted for lesser offences like possession of explosives.

This is the first conviction ever in any of the blast cases that have been heard in the capital. The case also involved Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Menon as proclaimed offenders.

Those facing trial on various charges were Farooq Ahmed Khan, Mohd Naushad, Mirza Iftikhar, Mohd Ali Bhatt, Mirza Nissar Hussain, Latif Ahmed Waza, Syed Maqbool Shah, Javed Ahmed Khan and Abdul Gani and their woman associate Farida Dar. All accused, except the woman, are in judicial custody.

District and sessions judge S P Garg had recently concluded hearing final arguments in the case. During the arguments, Khalil Ansari, counsel for the accused, had said they were innocent and had been framed in the case.