TADA Court Convicts, Hands Over Church Blast Case Accused to Bangalore for Special Trial

Hyderabad – A TADA court in Hyderabad has convicted 31 accused in the church blast cases that caused an uproar in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Goa in June–July 2000.

In 2000, a conspiracy was hatched to plant bombs in all the churches of South India to trigger social unrest. However, the accused were caught after an explosion occurred in a van used by them as a getaway vehicle in Bangalore.

The incident had sent shockwaves among the clergy and the Christian community.

The charge of conspiracy levelled against the 31, belonging to the Deendar Anjuman, a Muslim religious sect operating from Hyderabad and Bangalore, was proved and they were sentenced to a four–year term.

However, they were released because they had already spent over four years in jail. But the criminals will now be handed over to the Karnataka police for trial in Bangalore.

“They had triggered blasts at Wadi in Gulbarga and Jagajeevanram Nagar in Bangalore,” said the police officers who were investigating the matter.

The accused will be taken to Bangalore later in December. Their trial, police said, will take place in a special court constituted by the Karnataka State Government.