2008 Jaipur serial blasts: Punishment to be pronounced tomorrow

Jaipur, Dec 19: A special court will on Friday pronounce the sentence against the four men convicted for the serial blasts that killed over 70 people in 2008.

The special court on Thursday heard arguments on the quantum of punishment for the four men. Public prosecutor Srichand said the court will pronounce the sentence at 4 pm on Friday. The maximum punishment is a death sentence.

"I have demanded death penalty for them," he said, calling the 2008 explosions the second deadliest incident of the kind after the serial blasts in Mumbai. He claimed the four convicts did not display any fear in the courtroom. He said 71 people were killed and 185 others injured in the Jaipur blasts.

On Wednesday, the court convicted Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Mohammad Salman and Saifurrehman. Another accused, Shahbaz Hussain, was acquitted with the court giving him the benefit of the doubt. The serial blasts rocked Jaipur on the evening of May 13, 2008 within a two-kilometre radius in the walled city, popular also with tourists.

Shahbaz Hussain, a resident of Lucknow, was accused of sending emails to the police claiming responsibility for the blasts on behalf of the Indian Mujahideen. But the allegation could not be proved and he was acquitted. Apart from these five, two accused were killed in the Batla House encounter in Delhi in the same year and five others are still absconding.