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Waliullah held guilty in 2006 Varanasi serial blasts case
At least 18 people were killed and over 100 wounded in the twin blasts at the Sankat Mochantemple and Varanasi Cantonment railway station within a span of 15 minutes on the evening of March 7, 2006.
Ghaziabad: Mohammad Waliullah, prime accused in the 2006 Varanasi serial blasts case, has been found guilty by a Ghaziabad court on Saturday. He will be sentenced on June 6.
At least 18 people were killed and over 100 wounded in the twin blasts at the Sankat Mochantemple and Varanasi Cantonment railway station within a span of 15 minutes on the evening of March 7, 2006.
Waliullah, a resident of Phoolpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, was arrested by police after the blast took place and the trial of his cases were held in Ghaziabad after lawyers in Varanasi declined to defend him.
Waliullah, a mufti or Islamic legal authority, faced trial in three cases, which included six cases registered at Lanka and Dashashwamedh police stations and the Government Railway Police precinct in Varanasi, lawyers in Ghaziabad said.
Waliullah was charged with murder, attempt to murder, and voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons, besides being booked under provisions of the Explosives Act.
“Waliullah was found guilty in two of three cases for which he faced trail at Ghaziabad. These included the bomb blast case near Sankat Mochan temple and in another case where explosives were recovered near a railway crossing,” said Rajesh Chand Sharma, district government counsel. “He was found not guilty in the third case, which was for a blast in the first class waiting room at Varanasi Cantonment railway station.”
“The blasts led as many as 18 people killed and many injured, while many suffered grievous injuries, which even led to amputation of limbs,” Sharma said. “The prosecution witnesses identified the suspect.”
On the day of the incident, the first blast took place at the Sankat Mochan temple near the Banaras Hindu University around 6.15pm, where thousands of devotees had assembled to offer prayers.
About 20 minutes later, another bomb exploded in the waiting room at the Cantonment station, where the Delhi-bound Shiv Ganga Express was at the platform.
The Ghaziabad court acquitted Waliullah in case related to blast at the waiting room, defence lawyers said.
“The trail of the case was held at the court of the district judge Ghaziabad, and Waliullah was acquitted in the blast at Cantonment railway station,” said Mahesh Chand, one of the lawyers representing Waliullah at Ghaziabad.
“We contended that many of the prosecution witnesses were common in all the three cases, and how was it possible that the witnesses surfaced at three different places at the same time,” Chand said.
Besides Waliullah, there were four other suspects, of which three (Mustafeez, Jakaria and Waseer) remain at large while a fourth (Mohammad Zuber) was killed in a police crackdown.
The cases for trial were shifted to Ghaziabad on December 24, 2006. Waliullah was arrested on April 5, 2006.
