Karnataka   

Jail terms for 13 in Ashna case

THALASSERY: All the 13 Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (BJP-RSS) workers convicted in the Ashna murder attempt case were given prison sentence. While the fifth accused was sentenced for 10-year rigorous imprisonment, the rest were given a jail term for five years each.

The Additional District and Sessions Court (Fast Track III), which had convicted all the 13 accused on November 14, pronounced the judgment on Monday amidst tight police security on the court premises.

Judge B. Ramakanth sentenced the fifth accused Naroth Ramachandran to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was given 10-year jail term each under IPC 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons) and 307 (attempt to murder) and Sections 3 of the Explosive Substance Act as also a five-year jail term under Section 5 of the Explosives Substance Act. He should pay penalties of Rs.20,000, Rs.25,000, Rs.25,000 and Rs.10,000 respectively, failing which he should undergo additional jail terms of six months, nine months, nine months and three months respectively. His jails sentences would run concurrently.

The other accused, from the first to fourth and seventh to 14 were sentenced to five years in jail under various sections including IPC Sections 326 and 307. The judge also imposed a penalty of Rs.40,000 (Rs.20,000 each under the two sections) each for causing grievous injury and murder attempt on these 12 accused. If they failed to pay the penalty, they should undergo one-year additional jail term.

The convicted are: P. Purushu, A.C. Damodaran, V. Ashokan, P. Prakashan, M.K. Pramod, K.K. Dasan, K.K. Vinodan, V.P. Raghu, P. Rameshan, K. Chandran, A. Ashokan (who is BJP district secretary) and C.P. Balakrishnan.

The court had dropped the sixth accused K. Pradeepan, who was among the two RSS workers killed in a bomb blast at Cheruvancherry on November 10 in what was suspected to be an accident while making bombs.

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