A Tirupati court on Thursday sentenced three persons -- G. Rammohan Reddy, S. Narasimha Reddy and P. Chandra alias Kesava -- accused in the Alipiri blast case to undergo rigorous imprisonment for four years and to pay fine of Rs. 5,000 each.
Maoists had triggered a claymore mine targeting Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu during his previous stint, at Alipiri, as he was proceeding to participate in the Brahmotsavam at Tirumala on October 1, 2003. He escaped with injuries on neck and shoulder.
The final verdict delivered by Additional Senior Civil Judge O. Venkata Nageswara Rao pertained to the second charge-sheet filed in the case. While the trio was being taken away from the court complex amid tight security, the fourth one, Rammohan Reddy, who worked as a sub-editor in a newspaper, claimed innocence and said even the investigating officials could not establish his link.
Rammohan Reddy said though he was a member of the Maoist party, having been actively involved in the publishing of its mouthpiece ‘Kranthi’, he had no connection whatsoever with the blast. While indicating that he would go for an appeal, Rammohan Reddy said the judgment would send wrong signals to the Maoists willing to surrender.
Of the 33 accused in the case registered in Alipiri police station in 2003, 11 died during trial and 15 were still at large. Among the arrested, Maoist leader Sagar alias Panduranga Reddy and Kollam Gangi Reddy were acquitted for want of evidence in November 2012, while the sentence of two others Ramaswamy Reddy and Nagarjuna by a lower court was upheld. The trial in the present case was launched in 2011, in which the above three were named as accused.
Besides Mr. Naidu, others who were travelling in his bullet proof car, Minister Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy, MLAs Reddivari Rajasekhara Reddy and Chadalawada Krishnamurthy were injured.
Published - September 26, 2014 12:30 am IST
