Bihar court convicts 8 persons in 2015 bomb blast case, acquits 3 including ex-MLA
A court in Bihar's Bhojpur district convicted eight persons in the 2015 Ara Civil Court bomb blast case on Saturday. It acquitted three persons, including former MLA Sunil Pandey, in the case for lack of evidence.
Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADJ) Tribhuwan Yadav convicted Lambu Sharma, Chand Miyan, Naeem Miyan, Akhilesh Upadhyaya, Rinku Yadav, Pramod Singh, Shyam Vinay Sharma and Mohammed Wahid in the case.
The court fixed August 20 for hearing of arguments on the issue of quantum of sentence. Besides Pandey, the other two persons acquitted in the case were Sanjay Sonar and Vijay Sharma.
The court also issued a warrant against Chand Miyan, one of the eight convicts, who did not appear in the court on Saturday. It also issued orders to attach Chand Miyan's properties.
In 2015, a woman, identified as Nagina Devi, had come to the court premises as a suicide bomber with a design to set notorious criminal Lambu Sharma free from custody.
As the prison van reached the court premises, the woman triggered a blast. Taking the advantage, Sharma, along with two others, fled. The woman died on the spot, while a police constable, Amit Kumar, succumbed to his injuries received in the blast subsequently.
The police had filed a chargesheet against 11 persons, including Pandey. Reacting to the court order, the former legislator said it was the victory of justice. "Those who wanted to implicate me in a false case through a political conspiracy have not succeeded," he added. Pandey, who was in the Janata Dal (United) in 2015, is currently in the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
