Khagragarh blast: Prime accused Kausar Ali gets 29 years imprisonment

The NIA special court pronounced the punishment after finding the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) operative guilty under sections 120 (Concealing design to commit offence) and 125 (Waging war against any Asiatic Power in alliance with the Government of India) of the IPC; sections 16 (Terrorist act), 18 (Conspiracy) and 20 (Being member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act-UAPA; section 25 of the Arms Act; and section 14 of the Foreigners Act.

With the development, the NIA special court, so far, has sentenced 31 accused in Khagragarh blast case.

The accidental IED blast, which occurred on Oct 2 in 2014 inside a two-storey building at Khagragarh area in West Bengal's East Burdwan (then Burdwan) district, led to the killing of two bomb makers and discovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition as well as an active terror module in the state.

Days later, on Oct 10, the NIA took over the probe in the matter and after few months, the agency filed a charge sheet before a special court in Kolkata, framing 30 accused under UAPA and several sections of IPC, Foreigners Act and Arms and Explosive Acts.

A link with the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was established in the course of the investigation into the blast.

One of the primary accused in the case- Kausar Ali, who was also wanted in connection with the planting of IEDs on Kaalchakra ground in Bihar's Bodh Gaya as well as serial blast cases in Bangladesh, had gone absconding since the incident and he was arrested by the NIA from Bengaluru in 2018.