2005 Delhi blasts: 5 Babbar Khalsa men sentenced

August 30, 2012 07:13 pm | Updated 07:13 pm IST - New Delhi

Babbar Khalsa International member Jagtar Singh Hawara on Thursday pleaded guilty in a Delhi court along with four others of their roles in the 2005 twin blasts at Satyam and Liberty cinema halls in New Delhi.

With Hawara, the assassin of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh and his four accomplices admitting their guilt, Additional Sessions Judge Rakesh Siddhartha sentenced them to jail terms already undergone by them during adjudication of the twin blast case.

Others who pleaded guilty and were sentenced along with Hawara are BKI members Balwinder Singh, Jaspal Singh, Vikas Sehgal and Jagannath Yadav.

With the court sentencing them to jail term already undergone by them, the four others, barring Hawara, who have already spent over seven years in jail, would be released.

Hawara is currently serving life term for assassinating former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. He is also facing trial in another case and cannot be released.

In the twin blasts case, Hawara was charged only for harbouring Jaspal and Vikas, who were actively involved in executing the blasts.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs. 25,000 on each of them. Balwinder, Jaspal, Vikas and Jagannath, who were in custody since May 31, 2005, pleaded guilty of conspiracy to commit offences against the state, attempt to murder and culpable homicide not amounting to murder under the Indian Penal Code and the Explosives Substance Act.

The five also pleaded guilty under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

The blasts had taken place on May 22, 2005 and the bombs were triggered by crude devices during the screening of Hindi film Jo Bole So Nihaal.

Sixty people were injured in the twin blasts. While the first explosion rocked Liberty cinema on the busy G.T. Karnal Road in Central Delhi around 8.15 p.m., the second one took place at the Satyam cinema at Patel Nagar some 20 minutes later.

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