An Indian court has jailed four Bangladeshis for 10 years in a case in connection with the blast in the Indian state of West Bengal's Burdwan district in 2014, according to local media.
The special court of National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Kolkata pronounced the quantum of punishment against 19 convicts including the four Bangladeshis in the case on Friday (Aug 30), reports the Indian Express.
The Four Bangladeshi citizens are Sheikh Rahamatullah, Sadiq, Liakot Ali Pramanik Habibur Rahman, according to the NIA.
Two women have also been sentenced to six years of rigorous imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 20,000.
“Four Bangladeshi nationals have been given maximum punishment by the court under the Foreigners Act. As per the order once their punishment period is over they will be sent back to Bangladesh”, Indian Express quoted advocate Md Abu Salem as saying.
“One of the convicts from Assam is a student and hence has been convicted with six years of imprisonment”, he added.
Earlier on Wednesday (Aug 28), the court found the 19 accused, including four Bangladeshis and three persons from Assam, guilty of the charges from 31 people who were taken into custody by the NIA, India's central counter-terrorism agency.
According to an NIA statement, the other convicted were Gulsona Bibi, Alima Bibi, Abdul Hakim, Amjad Ali Seikh, Md Sahanur Alom, Shaikul Islam Khan, Md Rejaul Karim, Habibur Rehman, Giyasuddin Munshi, Mofajjul Ali, Abul Kalam, Lal Mohammad, Abdul Wahab, Md Sahidul Islam and Nurul Hoque Mandal.
They were convicted under IPC sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 125 (wages or attempts to wage war against the government of any Asiatic power in alliance or at peace with the government of India), Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Explosive Substances Act and Arms Act. The Bangladeshi citizens were also convicted under the Foreigners Act.
The Burdwan blast of 2014 blew the lid off a flourishing network of the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in West Bengal, especially in the districts of Burdwan, Birbhum and Nadia.
On Oct 2, 2014, when the West Bengal was immersed in Durga Puja celebrations, an IED explosion at a two-storey house at Khagragarh in Burdwan town killed two persons, it was an accidental blast that exposed the network. NIA took charge of the investigation in 2014 and submitted the first chargesheet on March 2015.
The house was taken on rent by the JMB and masked it as a burqa stitching factory, according to Indian media.
