APHC protests death sentence to Kashmiris in 1996 bomb blast case

SRINAGAR - Activists of All Parties Hurriyat Conference staged a protest here on Saturday against a court verdict that recently pronounced death sentence on three convicts, including two Kashmiris, in connection with 1996 Lajpat Nagar blast in New Delhi.

Dozens of agitated supporters of the moderate fraction of All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq raised slogans, as they marched towards main city centre of Lal Chowk in Srinagar.

Police later detained the activists.

Meanwhile, the authorities have placed the Chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and other Hurriyat leaders under house arrest in Srinagar.

Nearly 14 years after the blasts rocked a busy marketplace in New Delhi, that left 13 people dead and several injured, a Delhi court on Thursday (April 22) awarded the death sentences.

Those given death sentence are Mohammad Ali Bhatt and Mirza Nissar Hussain, both residents of Kashmir, and Mohammad Naushad, a resident of Delhi.

The court awarded life sentence to Javed Ahmed Khan while another accused, Farooq Khan, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment.

The court, however, released their woman associate, Farida Dar, also a Kashmiri, who has spent four years in jail. (ANI)