2018 Bodh Gaya blast: Bangladesh national gets 10-year RI

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Patna on Friday sentenced a Bangladeshi national, member of terror outfit Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in the bomb explosion in Bodh Gaya in 2018 when Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, along with several Buddhist pilgrims, was camping in the town to participate in the month-long Kalachakra puja, according to a lawyer involved in the case.

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Patna on Friday sentenced a Bangladeshi national, member of terror outfit Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for his role in the bomb explosion in Bodh Gaya in 2018 when Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, along with several Buddhist pilgrims, was camping in the town to participate in the month-long Kalachakra puja, according to a lawyer involved in the case.

The accused has been sentenced to 10-year-RI. (HT Photo)

Three IEDs (improvised explosive devices) were planted in and around the premises of the temple. The first, detected at the gate number 5 of Kalchakra Maidan, exploded while it was being secured. Two more were recovered near a monastery and at the stairs of the Mahabodhi Temple.

The court of additional district and session judge Gurwinder Singh Malhotra, who pronounced the judgment, also slapped a fine of ₹38,000 on Jahidul Islam alias Kausar Mizanul alias Bada Bhai, the convict.

On December 17 last year, the same court had awarded life sentence to three members of the same outfit JMB and 10 years of rigorous imprisonment to five other accused.

According to the special public prosecutor (NIA), Lallan Prasad Sinha, eight of the nine accused had filed a joint petition before the special court on October 22, 2021, confessing to their crime for hatching conspiracy and executing the blast, which was accepted by the court.