Bomb attack: 13 BJP-RSS men found guilty

All 13 accused in a case regarding bomb attack on a house here in 2000, in which three members of a family including a six-year old girl were injured, were found guilty by a local court in Kannur.

All 13 accused in a case regarding bomb attack on a house here in 2000, in which three members of a family including a six-year old girl were injured, were found guilty by a local court in Kannur on Friday.

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Additional Sessions Court (Fast Track-3) Judge B Ramakanth found the activists of RSS and BJP guilty and set November 17 as the date for delivering the sentence.

The court found them guilty under various IPC sections including IPC 307 (attempt to murder) and section 3 and 5 of Explosives Substance Act.

However, it dropped charges against sixth accused K Pradeepan following his death in a bomb explosion while allegedly making crude bombs at Cheruvanchery on Monday last.

The court examined 23 witnesses in the case.

According to police, the incident occurred during the panchayat polls on September 27, 2000 when a group of activists belonging to BJP and RSS threw a crude bomb while the girl was playing with her brother in front of her uncle's residence at Cheruvanchery.

The activists had thrown the bomb thinking that some congressmen were hiding in the house, a fall out of the dispute between the rival BJP and Congress over electoral malpractices.

Besides the girl, whose right leg had to be amputated, her brother and mother were also injured in the attack.