Chinnaswamy blast: When the court righted a wrong

New Delhi, Nov 26: A court in Bengaluru has enhanced the sentence of two accused in the Chinnaswamy blast case.

Two accused Ahmed Jamail and Aftab Alam of the Indian Mujahideen had pleaded guilty in the Sessions Court. The court had awarded them just 7 years imprisonment in June 2020.

However the prosecution preferred an appeal in the Karnataka High Court stating that the sentence awarded was not sufficient. The HC on its part remitted the matter back to the Sessions Court for fresh consideration.

The Sessions Court while hearing the prosecution enhanced the sentence from 7 years to life imprisonment.

Two blasts had taken place at the stadium in Bengaluru hours before the Indian Premier League Clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians on April 17 2020. 15 people were injured in the blast. A third bomb was diffused outside the stadium, following which the match began an hour late.

The police had said that the the Indian Mujahideen operatives had used low intensity bombs and triggered them with timers. One of the key suspects in the blast was the then chief of the Indian Mujahideen Yasin Bhatkal. He was in 2014 arrested at the India-Nepal border.

Bhatkal was a key player in the IM and had masterminded a series of attacks including the ones in Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Mumbai. He had gone on a rampage and had driven fear into the minds of the people before his luck ran out. He is currently in jail.