Court defers Ajmer shrine blast sentencing

Jaipur March 16 (IANS) A court here on Thursday deferred to Saturday the sentencing in the Ajmer Sharif Dargah blast of 2007 which left three people dead.

On March 8 the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court convicted Bhavesh Patel Devendra Gupta and Sunil Joshi (now dead) and had fixed March 16 for the sentencing.

The decision was confirmed to IANS by Lokesh Sharma advocate for Bhavesh Patel.

Meanwhile the court last week acquitted Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Swami Aseemanand and six others in the case while convicting the other three.

Three of the total 13 accused are still missing.

Three people were killed and at least 15 others injured when a bomb exploded on October 11 2007 inside the premises of the shrine of Sufi saint Khawaja Moinuddin Chisti.

Initially the police blamed Islamist terror groups but later a confession by Aseemanand shifted the focus of the probe towards Hindutva groups.

--IANS
as/ksk/mr