NDFB chief, 14 more held guilty for 2008 blasts
The blasts had left 81 people dead and 470 more injured.
Guwahati: A special CBI court in Assam on Monday convicted National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) founder and self-styled “commander-in-chief” Ranjan Daimary and 14 others over the 2008 serial bomb blasts, in which 81 people were killed and 470 others injured.
The outfit had triggered more than nine bomb blasts simultaneously in the marketplaces of Guwahati, Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon, Barpeta and the surrounding areas of western Assam on October 30, 2008 at around noon. The blasts had left 81 people dead and 470 more injured.
CBI special judge Aparesh Chakraborty convicted Daimary and 14 others under various sections of the IPC. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Wednesday. Besides Daimary, the others convicted are George Bodo, B. Tharai, Raju Sarkar, Nilim Daimary, Anchai Bodo, Indra Brahma, Loko Basumatary, Khargeswar Basumatary, Prabhat Bodo, Jayanta Bodo, Ajay Basumatary, Mridul Goyary, Mathuram Brahma and Rajen Goyary.
Advocate T.D. Goswami, special public prosecutor, said: “There were two chargesheets — one for 19 accused and another for three others. Seven accused are absconding — of which, it has been unofficially learnt, at least two are no more. We produced 650 witnesses and 687 items of documentary evidence. The quantum of punishment will be announced on January 30.”
CBI investigating officer N.S. Yadav said: “We have got the conviction for all 15. We have demanded the death penalty.”
The accused rigged two Maruti 800 cars and motorbikes with explosives and parked them strategically at nine locations. The blasts were triggered in a synchronised fashion across Assam before noon. The first explosion occurred hardly 300 metres from the Assam Secretariat at Ganesh Guri.
The NDFB faction led by Ranjan Daimary is holding talks with the government now. Anjali Daimary, a human rights activist and Ranjan Daimary’s sister, said this kind of judgement and the peace process cannot go together. Daimary is the only one among the 15 who is out on bail. The trial started in the fast-track court in 2017.