GUWAHATI
The Gauhati High Court on August 24 acquitted all six people convicted in a bomb blast in Dhemaji of Assam on August 15, 2004, which killed 13 people including 10 schoolchildren.
The outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) had claimed responsibility for the blast during the Independence Day celebration. Twenty others were injured, some grievously, in the explosion.
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A trial court had convicted the six in 2019 after recording the statements of 60 witnesses over the years. Adjudged guilty of carrying out the blasts, four of them – Lila Gogoi, Dipanjali Borgohain, Muhi Handique, and Jatin Dowari – were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The other two, alleged ULFA sympathisers named Prashanta Bhuyan and Hemen Gogoi, were prescribed a four-year jail term.
The convicts challenged the verdict of the lower court in the high court, which held the final hearing on July 28. The order by Justice Michael Zothankhuma and Justice Mridul Kumar Kalita was issued on Thursday.
“We find that the findings of the learned Trial Court have not been supported by the evidence recorded by the prosecution witnesses. The Trial Court cannot make findings on the basis of speculations or suspicion and the same has to be based on evidence,” the order said.
“The court did not say they were not involved but criminal cases warrant that the guilt of any person or persons has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The prosecution could not do so in this case,” Abhijit Khanikar, the counsel of the accused said.
Members of the families of the victims said they were upset with the judgement of the high court.
The schoolchildren who were killed in the blast were between 12 and 14 years of age.
According to the Assam police, the bomb was planted near the gate of a college where the Independence Day programme was being held and triggered by a remote-controlled device.
The bomb exploded when the students and teachers of various schools were passing through the gate.