Death sentence for one, life imprisonment for seven in Bihar court blast case

A court in Bihar's Bhojpur district on Tuesday gave death sentence to a man and life imprisonment to seven others in connection with the 2015 Ara civil court bomb blast case.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Tribhuwan Yadav gave capital sentence to Lambu Sharma after holding him guilty under various sections of IPC including 302 (murder), 307 (Attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 353 (Assault public servant from discharge of his duty) and under some sections of Explosive Substance Act.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 22,000 on Sharma.

The seven sentenced to life imprisonment were Chand Miyan, Naeem Miyan, Akhilesh Upadhyaya, Rinku Yadav, Pramod Singh, Shyam Vinay Sharma and Anshu Kumar.

The judge held them guilty under IPC section 302 (murder).

The court imposed a fine of Rs 42,000 on Akhilesh Upadhyaya and Rs 40,000 on the other six convicted persons.

The court on August 17 had convicted the eight persons in the civil court bomb blast and acquitted former JD(U) MLA Narendra Kumar Pandey alias Sunil Pandey along with two others -- Sanjay Sonar and Vijay Sharma -- for lack of evidence.

Pandey is currently in the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). Chand Miyan surrendered in the court on Tuesday as he did not appear in the court on August 17. The court had issued warrant against him and had also ordered attachment of his properties for not appearing before it on August 17.

On January 23, 2015, a woman, identified as Nagina Devi, had come to the court premises as a suicide bomber with a design to set notorious criminal, Lambu Sharma, free from custody.

As the prison van reached the court premises, the woman triggered a blast. Taking advantage of the blast, Sharma, along with two others had fled.

The woman died on the spot, while a police constable, Amit Kumar, succumbed to his injuries.

The police had filed a charge sheet against 11 persons, including Pandey and had produced 39 witnesses in the case.