Facing repercussions of my acts in last birth: Convict

The reactions to sessions judge NV Nhavkar’s verdict took time to register for the six accused arrested for their alleged role in the 2008 Thane blasts, while they sat in the last row of the courtroom.

The reactions to sessions judge NV Nhavkar’s verdict took time to register for the six accused arrested for their alleged role in the 2008 Thane blasts, while they sat in the last row of the courtroom.

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Dressed in plain kurtas and trousers, with a tilak on their foreheads, the six men sat in the same place where they had been sitting for the last three years. On judgment day, however, the mood inside the courtroom was tense.

Ramesh Gadkari, 55, called the sentencing ‘God’s will’. “I come from a spiritual background and if this is happening to me, there is a reason. It is karma which governs our destiny, and I am facing the repercussions of my acts in the last birth,” Gadkari told HT. His family, however, looked deeply disturbed. “They are my children and are worried out of concern for me,” said Gadkari, a grandfather of three.

Vikram Bhave, who was also convicted along with Gadkari, remained a mute spectator. “We have faith in the judicial system, which is why we will appeal this,” said Vinay Bhave, Vikram’s father who was accompanied by the 29-year-old’s wife and three-year-old daughter.

For the other four, the last three years are an ordeal, which they want to forget. “We know we have been deemed innocent legally, but we still lost three years,” said Mangesh Nikam.