Four people have been sentenced to death in India for attacking a Modi rally

A series of explosions rocked a park in the eastern city of Patna shortly before then-opposition leader Narendra Modi (C) addressed a crowd. afp_tickers

This content was released on 02 November 2021 – 11:57

(AFP)

Four people were sentenced to death on Monday and two others to death for allegedly attacking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2013 election rally.

A series of bomb blasts rocked a park in the eastern city of Patna shortly before opposition leader Modi addressed a rally during the campaign.

The attacks also hit a nearby train station, killing six people and injuring nearly 100 others.

The National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the country’s top counter-terrorism agency, said on Monday that all the accused belonged to the Indian group of the banned Islamic Student Movement.

Attorney Lalan Kumar told the AFP that the panel was convicted on Monday for plotting to “wage war against the government”.

The court sentenced three more people involved in the attacks to seven to 10 years in prison.

Defendants’ attorney said he would appeal the sentence to a higher court.

“The NIA has failed to identify the mastermind of this case,” Syed Imran Gani told AFP on Tuesday.

“The defendants are not terrorists and have no criminal records.”