NIA special court convicts 8 terrorists for planting explosives at Bodh Gaya

A special National Investigation Agency court in Patna on Friday convicted eight operatives of the Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh terror group for planting IEDs at the Mahabodhi temple complex in Bodh Gaya in 2018, an official said.

Paigambar Sheikh, Ahmad Ali, Nur Alam Momin, Adil Sheikh, Dilwar Hossain, Abdul Karim, Mustafizur Rahman and Arif Hussain have been convicted under sections of the IPC, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substance Act, the official of the premier investigation agency said.

The case pertains to planting of three improvised explosive devices in and around the premises of the temple, the NIA official said.

The first IED, detected at the gate number 5 of Kalchakra Maidan, exploded while it was being secured, the official said.

Two more live IEDs were recovered near Srilankan monastery and at the stairs of the gate number 4 of Mahabodhi temple, the NIA official said.

The convicts hatched a conspiracy by way of planting improvised explosive devices at the temple complex during a visit of the Dalai Lama and the governor of Bihar, according to the NIA official.

They contacted each other, travelled together, conspired and procured explosives, fabricated and planted these three IEDs at the temple complex on January 19, 2018, the official said.

A charge-sheet in the case was filed in September, 2018, followed by a supplementary charge sheet in January 2019, the NIA official said.

The quantum of sentence against the eight convicts would be pronounced on December 17 by the special court.