Sentencing in Ajmer dargah blast case set for March 22

Bhavesh Patel and Devendra Gupta were convicted on March 8.

Bhavesh Patel, a convict in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case. File photo

The National Investigation Agency Special Court in Jaipur on Saturday reserved for March 22, 2017 its order on the sentence for the two convicts in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case. Both the prosecution and the defence counsel completed their arguments on the point of quantum of sentence.

The sentence is to be awarded to Bhavesh Patel and Devendra Gupta. The third convict, Sunil Joshi – a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak – was murdered in December 2007.

The court had convicted three persons and

acquitted seven others, including Swami Aseemanand , in the case on March 8, 2017 and postponed the sentencing. The convicts have now got a reprieve for four more days.

The explosion in the shrine of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti on October 11, 2007, during Ramzan, had left three dead and 17 injured. The dargah was packed to capacity with about 5,000 devotees when the blast occurred at the time of

iftaar (breaking of fast).