India jails Hindu radicals for life over Ajmer Sharif shrine blast

Special public prosecutor says convicts' motive was to create communal disharmony

JAIPUR: An Indian court jailed on Wednesday two Hindu extremists for life over the 2007’s deadly bombing at the Sufi shrine of Ajmer Sharif.

A special court in Rajasthan found Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel guilty, the first time in living memory that Hindu radicals have been convicted for such a crime.

A third man who was shot dead in the months after the attack and tried posthumously was also convicted.

All three were convicted on charges related to explosives and conspiracy to commit unlawful acts over the blast, which came just before the Muslim festival of Eid.



Magistrate Dinesh Kumar Gupta pronounced sentence on Wednesday.

Special public prosecutor Ashwini Sharma said their motive was to create communal disharmony.

"Their motive was to hurt religious sentiments of Muslims during the month of Ramzan (Ramadan) by the bomb blast," Sharma said.

Gupta and Patel's lawyer JS Rana told journalists they would appeal the verdict in a higher court.

Earlier this month, Pakistan lodged a formal protest with India over the acquittal of mastermind of the blast, Swami Aseemanand.

He was also behind the February 2007 Samjhauta Express terrorist attack. The deadly train bombing left 42 Pakistani citizens dead.