The News Caravan

Tag: Blasts

  • Russian navy ship photographed near Nord Stream pipelines before blasts

    Russian navy ship photographed near Nord Stream pipelines before blasts

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    A Russian navy vessel specialising in submarine operations was photographed near the sabotaged Nord Stream gas pipelines just prior to the mysterious September blasts, according to the Danish daily newspaper Information.

    The prosecutor leading Sweden’s investigation into the sabotage confirmed the existence of the hitherto publicly unknown photographs.

    “I’m aware of the information from before … This is not new information to us,” Mats Ljungqvist said on Friday.

    The newspaper said the submarine rescue ship SS-750 was photographed in the Baltic Sea four days before the still-unexplained explosions on the pipelines linking Russia to Germany. The ship carries a mini-submarine.

    “The Danish military confirmed that 26 photos of the Russian vessel were taken from a Danish patrol boat in the zone located east of Bornholm on 22 September 2022,” Information said, adding the photos were classified.

    The Danish military has not responded to AFP’s request for comment.

    Ljungqvist said he could not comment on the photographs’ significance to the Swedish investigation, noting it was “confidential”.

    Seven months after the spectacular blasts on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, it has yet to be established who was responsible, despite criminal investigations in the countries bordering the damaged part of the pipelines, Germany, Sweden and Denmark.

    The New York Times reported in March that US officials had seen new intelligence indicating that a “pro-Ukrainian group” was responsible, without the involvement of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

    German prosecutors subsequently said that, in January, investigators had searched a ship suspected of having transported explosives used in the blasts.

    In March, Ljungqvist said it was “still unclear” who was behind the sabotage, calling it “a complex case”. “Our primary assumption is that a state is behind it,” he said.

    A former Danish intelligence officer turned analyst, Jacob Kaarsbo, told Information that the presence of SS-750 in the zone “sheds light on what was going on in the region in the preceding days”.

    The confirmation was of particular interest “because we know it is capable of carrying out such an operation”, he said.

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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • PSLV C55 carrying two Singapore satellites blasts off from Sriharikota

    PSLV C55 carrying two Singapore satellites blasts off from Sriharikota

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    Untitled design 2023 04 22T143359.750

    Sriharikota: ISRO’s PSLV C55 rocket carrying two Singapore satellites lifted off the spaceport on Saturday.

    In its dedicated commercial mission through NSIL, ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle carried with it TeLEOS-2 as the primary satellite and Lumelite-4 as a co-passenger satellite that would be deployed into low earth orbit.

    The 44.4-metre tall rocket blasted off from the first launch pad at the end of a 22.5-hour countdown at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, located about 135 km from Chennai.

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    TeLEOS-2 is a synthetic aperture radar satellite developed under a partnership between the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA), representing the Government of Singapore and ST Engineering.

    After deployment of the satellite into the about 586 km orbit, it would be used to support the satellite imagery requirements of various agencies within the Government of Singapore. TeLEOS-2 carries a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload. It would be used to provide all-weather day and night coverage and is capable of imaging at 1-metre full polarimetric resolution for Singapore.

    Lumelite-4 satellite is co-developed by the Institute for Infocomm Research and Satellite Technology and Research Centre of the National University of Singapore.

    It is an advanced 12U satellite developed for the technology demonstration of the High-Performance Space-borne VHF Data Exchange System (VDES). The satellite’s objective is to augment Singapore’s e-navigation maritime safety and benefit the global shipping community, ISRO said.

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    #PSLV #C55 #carrying #Singapore #satellites #blasts #Sriharikota

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Mumbai train blasts: HC quashes death row convict’s plea seeking info under RTI

    Mumbai train blasts: HC quashes death row convict’s plea seeking info under RTI

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    New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition by a death row convict in the 2006 Mumbai train blast case seeking disclosure of information pertaining to the ban imposed on terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen.

    Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique had filed an application under the RTI Act seeking “background notes” of the Centre and reports of state governments of Gujarat, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh in relation to the ban on the organisation, which was stated to have carried out the blast. The outfit was proscribed under the stringent anti-terror law Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act (UAPA).

    The petitioner challenged in the high court an order passed by the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) on June 13, 2019 denying him the information on the ground that it was covered under the exemptions provided in the RTI Act.

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    While refusing to interfere with the CIC’s decision, Justice Prathiba M Singh said the information sought by the petitioner has far reaching consequences and has to be seen from the “larger issue of safety and security of the public and the nation”. It said the information Siddique has sought, if provided, will have a bearing on sovereignty and security of the country.

    “A perusal of the information shows that the same has far reaching consequences. The same organisation is stated to be involved in various unfortunate incidents since 2005, some resulting in severe loss of life and property,” said the court.

    It observed that the disclosure of the information sought by the petitioner can “jeopardize the sources” of the government in relation to the ban on Indian Mujahideen and the CIC’s opinion that sharing the information would endanger the sources is “correct and does not require interference”.

    “In view of the above, the writ petition is devoid of merit and is dismissed,” ruled the court.

    Advocate Arpit Bhargava, representing the petitioner, contended the information sought in the RTI application was needed to prove the innocence of the petitioner in the criminal case and there was no further need to maintain confidentiality in relation to the “background notes” and the reports of the states as Indian Mujahideen has already been declared a banned organisation under UAPA.

    The counsel for the Centre said the information in question cannot be disclosed as it is confidential and disclosure will be against public interest.

    Siddique was awarded capital punishment for the July 11, 2006 serial blasts when seven bombs packed with RDX ripped through many western line local trains in Mumbai killing 189 peeople and injuring 829.

    The petitioner, currently lodged in a prison, claimed in his plea he was falsely implicated by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Mumbai in the train blasts case.

    The trial court’s order of sentence is still pending confirmation by the Bombay High Court and the reports of the state governments and the Centre’s background notes would prove the innocence of the petitioner as well as violation of his human rights, the plea said.

    Last year, the high court had dismissed another petition by Siddique challenging a CIC order denying disclosure of certain information pertaining to the sanction granted by the Maharashtra government for his prosecution under UAPA.

    The high court had earlier this year rejected his petition seeking reports submitted by the Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments regarding investigation into the train bombings.

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    #Mumbai #train #blasts #quashes #death #row #convicts #plea #seeking #info #RTI

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Juice rocket blasts off to explore Jupiter’s icy moons – video

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    The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer has blasted off on an eight-year voyage from a spaceport in French Guiana. The European Space Agency’s mission to Jupiter will survey three moons that may have once hosted life. Europa, Callisto and Ganymede are frigid, ice-covered Jovian satellites three-quarters of a billion km from the sun, but they have vast liquid water oceans beneath their surfaces. If hydrothermal vents – found on ocean floors all over Earth – exist, they may provide enough warmth for life to thrive in the darkness

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    #Juice #rocket #blasts #explore #Jupiters #icy #moons #video
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Jaipur serial blasts: Rajasthan BJP says SLP will be filed in Supreme Court

    Jaipur serial blasts: Rajasthan BJP says SLP will be filed in Supreme Court

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    Jaipur: A Special Leave Petition will be filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of the family members of the victims of the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blasts against the Rajasthan High Court verdict acquitting four people previously accused in the case, a senior BJP leader said on Wednesday.

    Leader of opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore said he will visit Delhi on Thursday for this.

    Rathore and other party leaders, including BJP state president CP Joshi, attended a dharna at Ramlila ground at Sanganeri gate on Wednesday. After the dharna, a candle march was also taken out.

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    The family members of those who were killed or injured in the blasts took part in the protest.

    “I assure that the BJP is standing with the victims until they get justice,” Rathore said.

    Joshi questioned why the Congress government could not engage good lawyers to ensure justice to the victims.

    “It is understood from the verdict that the Congress government is definitely an anti-Hindu government. Sometimes it bans Ram Navami (processions), and sometimes it fails to save people like Kanhaiya Lal,” he said.

    Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor in Udaipur, was hacked to death in July last year by two men who said in a video posted online that they had avenged an insult to Islam.

    On March 29 this year, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted four people accused in the Jaipur blasts case on the ground of shoddy investigation. The four were awarded the capital punishment by a lower court.

    The BJP has accused the state government of presenting a weak case which led to their acquittal.

    The state government said it will file a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict.

    A lower court in December 2019 awarded the death sentence to Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Salman and Saifur Rahman and acquitted the fifth accused Shahbaz Hussain while giving benefit of doubt.

    Jaipur was rocked by a series of blasts on May 13, 2008, when bombs went off one after another at Manak Chawk Khanda, Chandpole Gate, Badi Chaupad, Chhoti Chaupad, Tripolia Gate, Johri Bazar and Sanganeri Gate.

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    #Jaipur #serial #blasts #Rajasthan #BJP #SLP #filed #Supreme #Court

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • UN Women chief blasts Taliban ban on female Afghan UN staff

    UN Women chief blasts Taliban ban on female Afghan UN staff

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    United Nations: Sima Bahous, UN Undersecretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, has condemned the Taliban’s decision to ban Afghan women from working with the United Nations in Afghanistan.

    “We stand in full solidarity with our colleagues, and all women who every day put their lives at risk to serve their country and we salute their dedication, professionalism, and bravery. We re-assert their inalienable, fundamental human rights as enshrined in the UN Charter,” said Bahous in a statement on Wednesday.

    “We will not replace our female workforce with men,” she said, adding that UN Women is determined to continue in every way possible to deliver vital services and support, so no woman or girl will be left out or left behind, Xinhua news agency reported.

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    Afghanistan is in a humanitarian crisis with 28.3 million people, two-thirds of the population, needing humanitarian assistance to survive. Nearly a quarter of households in Afghanistan are female-headed, she noted.

    The removal of skilled women aid workers decreases access by women and girls to critical life-saving services, and increases their risks when they have to seek assistance from men instead, said Bahous.

    The de-facto authorities’ denial of women’s and girls’ rights to education and to engagement in society and the economy of Afghanistan is a self-inflicted wound on the country. This damage to future recovery and resilience deepens with every woman and girl whose horizons have been forcibly shrunk to her home’s four walls, she added.

    UN Women joins UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in calling on the Taliban to immediately revoke this latest decision and reverse all measures that restrict women’s and girls’ rights to work, education and freedom of movement, she said.

    UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Wednesday that the world body is instructing all its Afghan national staff — men and women — not to report to the office for now. In addition, UN national female staff in Afghanistan will not see their posts to be backfilled by men.

    Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN Secretary-General’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, said the Afghan UN national staff — Afghan men and women — are in solidarity.

    “We will not have a situation where we are going to work with all-men teams. So our national staff will report to the office together,” he told a press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York through a video link.

    Alakbarov said the United Nations is working to create the normal conditions so that the Afghan UN national staff could return to work. He said everybody will be paid even when they have to stay home.

    The United Nations has about 3,900 staff in Afghanistan, nearly 3,300 of them are nationals. Of those, there are about 400 women nationals and 200 women internationals.

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    #Women #chief #blasts #Taliban #ban #female #Afghan #staff

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Rajasthan BJP chief C P Joshi attacks Gehlot over handling of Jaipur blasts case

    Rajasthan BJP chief C P Joshi attacks Gehlot over handling of Jaipur blasts case

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    Kota: Newly appointed Rajasthan BJP chief C P Joshi on Monday attacked Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, alleging that the failure of his government to put up a strong legal team led to the acquittal of the accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case.

    Joshi asked what was the reason and under “whose pressure he did not deploy even a single legal counsel” in the case.

    On Wednesday, the Rajasthan High Court acquitted four accused who were convicted by a special court in 2019 for the serial blasts on May 13, 2008 in Jaipur that left 71 people dead and 185 injured.

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    Later, Chief Minister Gehlot had said the government would file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in this matter in the Supreme Court.

    Joshi said the terrorists had at least 18 lawyers defending them “meanwhile, his AAG was not present there? Whose pressure was it”.

    “When he had to save his government”, Gehlot deployed top lawyers, said Joshi who was on his maiden visit to Kota, a saffron bastion in Hadouti region, after assuming charge as the state BJP chief.

    “Who were those he (CM Ashok Gehlot) wanted to please by not calling any counsel in the serial blasts case,” Joshi said.

    Replying to queries, the BJP leader said Gehlot had been speaking against the Rashtriya Swamsevak Sangh (RSS) to save his government and to please his party leaders in Delhi.

    “Ashok Gehlot called doctors, who are revered by all, ‘gaddar’ (traitors). However, he had even called his own party colleague Sachin Pilot a ‘gaddar’,” Joshi said.

    Gehlot also “supported demand for Khalistan”, he alleged.

    During his recent visit to Kota, Gehot had alleged that 4-5 doctors who had links with RSS were behind the doctors’ stir against the Right To Heath Bill and had called them traitors.

    Joshi was given a rousing welcome at several places by party workers. There was some commotion as three workers slipped from a crowded stage at the Kunhari petrol pump in the city but no major injury was reported.

    Referring to Congress-in-charge Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa’s remark, Joshi said, “Those who gave a call to kill(Prime Minister) Modi have died and crores of people of the country are standing with him (Modi) as his strength.’

    Joshi also refuted claims of factional fighting in the state BJP.

    “Entire Rajasthan and country are now a bastion of the BJP and the lotus is blooming in almost every state,” he said.

    At a meeting in Kota, Joshi called upon the party workers to keep up their enthusiasm till the state election later this year to dislodge the Congress government.

    The people of the state would not forgive the state government that restricted several religious processions, Joshi said.

    Meanwhile, former BJP state president Arun Chaturvedi said the state government should stop the pretense of providing justice to the victims and instead file a strong appeal in the Supreme Court in the Jaipur blasts case.

    The government is doing politics of appeasement, he alleged.

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    #Rajasthan #BJP #chief #Joshi #attacks #Gehlot #handling #Jaipur #blasts #case

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Blasts took place in Sasaram during making of bombs: Bihar DGP

    Blasts took place in Sasaram during making of bombs: Bihar DGP

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    Patna: In wake of the violence in Bihar’s Sasaram and Nalanda, Director General of Police Rajvinder Singh Bhatti on Sunday said the explosion in Sasaram’s Sherganj area occurred during the making of bombs.

    He said that 6 persons were injured in the blast and were admitted to the BHU in Varanasi.

    “There accused were manufacturing bombs when the explosion took place. Six persons were injured in this accident and it has nothing to do with the Ram Navami march. The forensic team has collected the samples of the explosive and analysis is currently underway,” Bhatti said.

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    The statement of the DGP came soon after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his rally in Nawada on Sunday, claimed that firing and bomb blasts took place in Sasaram.

    The DGP said that the Bihar Police will arrest the accused after they are discharged from the hospital.

    “We have arrested 109 persons who were involved in violence in Sasaram and Biharsharif. The process of recording video statements is on. We are taking the strongest possible action against the accused,” he said.

    “The situations in both places are under control. There was a well-planned conspiracy to disturb law and order in these two places,” he added.

    Chief Secretary Amir Subhani said that the Bihar government had held a high-level meeting in advance well before Ram Navami.

    “We have directed all the SPs, DMs, DIGs, IGs and Divisional Commissioners of the respective zones. The law and order were intact in most places. We are taking the strongest possible action against the offenders,” Subhani said.

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    #Blasts #place #Sasaram #making #bombs #Bihar #DGP

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • Owaisi slams Cong for decision to appeal 2008 Jaipur blasts verdict

    Owaisi slams Cong for decision to appeal 2008 Jaipur blasts verdict

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    Hyderabad: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday slammed the Congress-led Rajasthan government for its decision to appeal the Rajasthan High Court’s decision to acquit four Muslim men in the Jaipur serial bomb blast case which rocked the state capital on May 13, 2008.

    Late on Friday night, at a high-level meeting, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot reviewed the acquittal of the four accused. He decided to remove Additional Advocate General (AAG) Rajendra Yadav for the weak prosecution in the case with immediate effect.

    Also, Chief Minister Gehlot ordered a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court at the earliest against the acquitted accused.

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    Owaisi said that the HC had raised serious questions on the ATS officer and that many evidences appear to be forged.

    “…The court said that many evidences appear to be forged, action should be taken against the investigating officer. The Gehlot government wants to appeal instead of investigating. Don’t know how many thousands of innocent Muslims’ lives have been ruined because of the UAPA-love of the Congress. Junaid-Nasir were brutally murdered by Hindutvaists in Rajasthan a few months back, till now only one accused has been caught,” Owaisi said in a series of tweets.

    The Hyderabad MP further questioned the Gehlot government on why it was silent when the Centre did not appeal against the verdict acquitting the culprits in the Khwaja Ajmer Dargah bomb blast case.

    “….Why was the Gehlot government silent then? From this you must have got an idea for whom the heart of Congress beats,” he remarked.

    In this context, the AIMIM chief also took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on his ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan remark he made during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Jaipur. “Where are those people who were setting up ‘Mohabbat ki Dukan’ by conducting seminars in Jaipur? What is his stand?” he asked.

    A division bench of Justices Pankaj Bhandari and Sameer Jain acquitted these four convicts who had presented 28 appeals in the High Court. The hearing on this entire case was going on for 48 days.

    In its verdict, the bench reportedly said that the investigating officer did not have legal knowledge. Therefore, instructions have been given to the DGP to take action against the investigating officer as well. The court has also asked the Chief Secretary to conduct an inquiry into the investigating officer.

    Syed Sadat Ali, the lawyer representing the accused, said that the High Court has termed the entire theory of ATS wrong, which is why the accused have been acquitted.

    He said that four accused were sentenced to death by the sessions court. “We had come to the High Court against that decision. One of the accused is a minor. The court has accepted that he was 16 years old at the time of the incident. The court acquitted the accused by saying that there is no proof against the accused. ATS and Prosecution have not been able to prove the allegations. Neither planting bombs has been proved nor was it proved that the accused had bought the cycle.”

    “The court made strong remarks about the Investigation Officer while giving the verdict. The court has ordered DGP Rajasthan to take action against Rajendra Singh Nayan, Jai Singh and retired IPS officer Mahendra Chaudhary, who were the investigating officers of the entire case. In the 10-page judgment, the court said that the theory of the police does not match with the entire case.”

    On May 13, 2008, there were serial bomb blasts at 8 places in the walled city. In these, 71 people were killed, while 185 were injured. The court found Mohd Saif, Saifur Rahman, Sarwar Azmi and Mohd Salman guilty of murder, sedition and the Explosives Act.

    A total of 13 people were made accused in this case by the police. Three accused are still absconding, while two are lodged in jails of Hyderabad and Delhi. The remaining two criminals have been killed in the Batla House encounter in Delhi. The four accused were lodged in Jaipur jail and were sentenced to death by the lower court.

    Former BJP state chief Satish Poonia said: “The acquittal of all four convicted in such a big offense by the high court raises doubts on the advocacy of the Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan.

    “The manner in which the evidence was presented by the ATS, and later it was clipped and edited and the manner in which the court said that the prosecution was not done properly and the evidence did not come in a proper manner, raises doubts on the side of the investigation.”



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    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

  • 2008 Jaipur serial blasts: BJP protests against Gehlot govt over acquittal of accused

    2008 Jaipur serial blasts: BJP protests against Gehlot govt over acquittal of accused

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    Jaipur: The BJP on Saturday held a protest here against the Congress government in Rajasthan, blaming it for the acquittal of four accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial bomb blast case in which 71 people were killed.

    The opposition party alleged that due to the state government’s “appeasement politics”, the prosecution did not put up a strong case in the Rajasthan High Court which set aside the 2019 lower court order of capital punishment to the accused.

    The acquittal has come as a great shock and the victims are still waiting for justice, the BJP said.

    The Rajasthan High Court, which on Wednesday acquitted the four accused, had also pulled up the probe agency for its “poor” investigation. The state government has decided to challenge the high court verdict in the Supreme Court.

    “The judgment puts a question mark on the intention of the state government which had a weak prosecution in the high court and this led to the acquittal,” former minister Rajpal Singh said during the dharna at Badi Chaupad, one of the sites rocked by the serial blasts.

    He said that the victims were waiting for justice.

    “The acquittal is the outcome of the appeasement policy of the Congress government,” he said.

    Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra, former BJP state president Arun Chaturvedi, Rajya Sabha MP Ghanshyam Tiwari and other leaders were present in the dharna.

    Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot told reporters in Kota that the state government has already decided to file an SLP in the Supreme Court against the high court decision.

    A lower court in December 2019 awarded death sentences to Mohammad Sarwar Azmi, Mohammad Saif, Mohammad Salman and Saifur Rahman and acquitted the fifth accused Shahbaz Hussain while giving the benefit of doubt.

    The state government challenged the acquittal of Shahbaz Hussain in the High Court. At the same time, all four who were awarded capital punishment had filed an appeal against the sentence.

    A division bench of justices Pankaj Bhandari and Sameer Jain on Wednesday acquitted the four accused. The court, in its order, also confirmed the acquittal of a fifth person – Shahbaz Hussain – by the trial court. It cited shoddy investigation in its verdict.

    Jaipur was rocked by serial blasts on May 13, 2008 at Manak Chawk Khanda, Chandpole Gate, Badi Chaupad, Chhoti Chaupad, Tripolia Gate, Johri Bazar and Sanganeri Gate.

    The explosions left 71 people dead and 185 injured.

    One live bomb was recovered near Ramchandra Temple which was defused by a bomb disposal squad.

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    #Jaipur #serial #blasts #BJP #protests #Gehlot #govt #acquittal #accused

    ( With inputs from www.siasat.com )