Bodh Gaya blast: Six terrorists plead guilty

PATNA: Six of the nine terrorists who were arrested in connection with the 2018 Bodh Gaya blast case confessed to their involvement in the terror act by filing a joint petition in the special NIA court here on Friday.
The terrorists are already facing trial in the case being investigated by the NIA. None of them had pleaded guilty when the charges were framed against them earlier.
The six accused who filed the joint petition are Ahmad Ali alias Kalu, Nur Alam Momin, Mohammad Adil Sheikh, Abdul Karim, Musfafizur Rehman and Arif Hussain.
Mohammad Paigambar Sheikh, Dilawar Hossain and a Bangladeshi national, Mohammad Jehidul Islam, didn’t file any petition.
A low-intensity IED blast had taken place below a generator set near Kalchakra ground in Bodh Gaya on January 19, 2018, when Buddhist spiritual guru Dalai Lama was also in the town.
Within hours of the blast, security forces had recovered three more IEDs from gate number four of Mahabodhi temple and in front of a Sri Lankan monastery. Dalai Lama was staying in a Tibetan monastery located near the Sri Lankan monaster.
As per NIA chargesheet, the terror plot was hatched to avenge alleged atrocities on Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a terror organisation banned by MHA, had allegedly planned the blasts. Jehidul, one of the arrested terrorists, had links with JMB which was trying to establish its roots in India.
The accused filed the joint petition hours after they were produced in the NIA court after being brought to Patna from West Bengal via train.
Since it is a voluntary confession, the court may show leniency as the terrorists wish to join the mainstream of the society again.
The nine terrorists were also accused in the Burdwan blast case. They had also been charged with committing robberies for funding JMB’s terror network in Bengaluru. Both cases are with NIA.
After production before NIA court, the nine terrorists were taken to Beur central jail amid tight security. The NIA court has fixed November 22 as the next date of hearing in the case.
Special public prosecutor (NIA) Lallan Prasad Sinha said they have received a copy of the joint petition filed by the six terrorists. “We will study the petition. Nothing more can be disclosed at this moment,” he added.
The NIA had filed a chargesheet against six of the accused on September 27, 2018 followed by a supplementary chargesheet against the remaining three on January 28, 2019.