Relatives of convicts in 1996 Delhi bomb blast case protest in Srinagar

SRINAGAR - Relatives and friends of the three Kashmiri convicts in 1996 Lajpat Nagar market bomb blast staged a protest demonstration against the court verdict here on Monday.

Nearly 14 years after the blasts rocked the busy marketplace at Lajpat Nagar in New Delhi, the court awarded death sentence to Mohammad Ali Bhatt and Mirza Nissar Hussain, both residents of Kashmir and Mohammad Naushad, a Delhi resident.

The court also awarded life sentence to Javed Ahmad Khan, a resident of Kashmir while another accused Farooq Khan has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment under Arms Act and five years under Explosive Substances Act.

The kin of the convicted Kashmiris, mostly women, all clad in Burqa staged the demonstration with a noose around their necks to express their anguish over the court’s verdict.

The bomb blast claimed 13 lives in Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar market.

Shameema Jan, Javed Ahmad Khan’s sister, said the court should punish them too along with her brother.

“He has been framed in a false case. His name is Javed Khan and he has been given life imprisonment. The court should punish us also along with him,” said Shameema Jan.

The blasts rocked Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market on the evening of May 21, 1996.

The accused were arrested soon after the incident by the police, which tracked the calls made by them to various media houses, claiming responsibility for the terror attack. (ANI)