lucknow

Updated: Dec 20, 2019 21:36 IST

After 12 years of investigation and trial, additional district judge Ashok Kumar, Faizabad court, on Friday awarded life imprisonment to two terrorists -- Tariq Azmi and Mohammad Akhtar -- for the November 2007 blast on Faizabad district court premises.

The court, however, set free the third accused, Sajjadur Rehman, for lack of evidence.

Both Azmi and Akhtar were awarded life imprisonment under sections 302 and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code and were also handed a fine of Rs 50,000 each.

During the course of trial, an accused Khalid Mujahid died in police custody in May 2013 when he was being transported from Barabanki court to Lucknow prison.

It may be pointed out that on November 23, 2007, simultaneous blasts took place in Lucknow, Varanasi and Faizabad courts in which 15 people had died.

In all six blasts took place in civil courts campuses in these three districts within a span of 25 minutes.

It may be pointed out that Tarik Azmi of Azamgarh and Mohammad Akhtar of Ramban, Kashmir, were awarded life sentence in the Lucknow court blast case on August 27, 2018.

On November 23, 2007, two serial blasts took place at the Lucknow civil court at around 1.32pm; one under a banyan tree and another at the cycle stand. However, no casualty was reported in these blasts.

The STF had arrested Khalid Mujahid and Tarik Azmi from the Barabanki railway station on December 22, 2007. The cops recovered two bags full of explosives from them that included RDX, ammonium nitrate, detonators, SIM cards and other incriminating material.

Akhtar was arrested from his home state, Jammu and Kashmir, on December 27, 2007.