A special court here on Monday awarded seven years’ jail to three of the 14 accused in the 2010 Chinnaswamy Stadium bomb blasts case. The sentencing came days after the three accused pleaded guilty in the Bengaluru blasts case. Two explosions had hit the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on April 17, 2010, leaving 15 people injured – five of them security men. The blasts took place ahead of a match between Royal Challengers and Mumbai Indians teams of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Gowhar Aziz Khomani, Kamaal Hasan and Mohammad Kafeel Akhtar had last week submitted an affidavit in the court and pleaded guilty. The move came after the court refused to accept their plea-bargaining. The special judge had tried the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. As per a report in news agency PTI, the three accused are from Bihar and had migrated to Delhi. They hatched the Bengaluru blasts conspiracy in Delhi. However, they were not involved in preparing or planting the bombs.

As per the prosecution, the trio helped the terrorists and were part of the conspiracy to plant the bombs. Indian Mujahideen terrorist Yasin Bhatkal, the mastermind of the blast, is already in Tihar Jail for his involvement in the blast.

Another accused in the case, Mohammad Qateel Siddiqui of the Indian Mujahideen terrorist group, was lynched in Pune’s Yerwada jail by fellow inmates for his role in anti-national activities. It may be noted that Bhatkal has not admitted to being part of the Bengaluru blasts conspiracy.

Meanwhile, of the total 14 accused, seven are under arrest and in jail. Some are, however, still absconding.

On April 17, 2010, two bombs exploded outside the stadium while a third was defused – the stadium was packed with spectators when the blasts took place. The low-intensity crude bombs were triggered by timers.