Three people were killed in the 2007 blast at the Ajmer dargah

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court in Jaipur today sentenced Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel to life in jail in the Ajmer blast case.

The two were convicted along with Sunil Joshi on March 6. Joshi died under mysterious circumstances soon after the bombing, in which three people were killed and 17 others were injured. The October 11, 2007 blast took place during the month of Ramazan and targeted the Khwaja Chishti shrine.

Both Devendra Patel and Sunil Joshi are former RSS pracharaks.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: On March 6, the court found three of the accused guilty in the 2007 blast case. Those convicted include Devendra Gupta, Bhavesh Patel and Sunil Joshi. Both Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi are former Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sagh(RSS) pracharaks. The NIA court found the three men guilty of conspiracy, planting bombs and inciting religious sentiments. While Devendra Gupta and Bhavesh Patel have been in judicial custody, Sunil Joshi had died mysteriously in 2007, soon after the Ajmer bombing. The remaining accused, including Aseemanand, Chandrashekhar Leve, Mukesh Vasani, Bharat Mohan Rateshwar, Lokesh Sharma, Mehul Kumar and Harshad Solanki were acquitted in the case. Three accused - Suresh Nair, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra - were declared absconders. The National Investigation Agency had accused Aseemanand of masterminding the blast. The Jaipur court, however, acquitted Asseemand and others for the lack of evidence. The court also did not find any involvement of senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar in the blast. The case had witnessed a major twist when Bhavesh Patel, one of the three men convicted, accused several Congress leaders, including Digvijaya Singh and former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde of pressurising him to name senior RSS leaders, including current RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior RSS functionary Indresh Kumar as being complicit in the blast case. He demanded a judicial enquiry into his accusations and into the alleged role of Congress leaders and NIA officers.

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