PUDUCHERRY: A special court in Puducherry on Friday convicted six activists of a Tamil nationalist group for planting a powerful bomb near the house of former chief minister V Narayanasamy.
Puducherry chief judge J Selvanadhan, who handles cases booked by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), convicted five activists of Tamilar Viduthalai Padai - R Thiruselvam, 33, his brother R Kalai Lingam, 37, Kaviarasu alias Raja, 30, Karthik alias Aadhi alias Jeeva and John Martin alias Ilanthanal - to seven years imprisonment and M Tamilarasan alias Thangaraj, 38, to five years imprisonment. The judge also slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 on Thiruselvam and Rs 3,500 each on the other five.
According to the prosecution, one of the employees of Narayanasamy found a bomb under a car parked in front of Narayanasamy's house on January 29, 2014. A police team reached the spot with a bomb disposal squad and removed the explosive. An expert team from Tamil Nadu safely defused the bomb on the Uppalam port premises a day later.
The bomb contained Gelx, an explosive. It had 21 electrical detonators and 12 non-electrical detonators. Police investigation showed that the bomb was a powerful one and if it had detonated, it would have caused loss of lives and property.
Police registered a case under section 120-B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, sections 3 (punishment for causing an explosion that is likely to endanger life or property) and 4 (punishment for attempt to cause an explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with an intent to endanger life or property) of the Explosives Substances Act and sections 16 (punishment for a terrorist act), 18 (punishment for conspiracy) and 20 (punishment for being a member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu police recovered a similar bomb near a Reliance supermarket at Uthangudi in Madurai on February 11, 2014. The Tamil Nadu Q Branch arrested four activists of Tamilar Viduthalai Padai in March 2014 in connection with the Madurai incident. Their arrest led to the arrest of two more involved in the crime. They confessed that they had planted the bomb near Narayanasamy's house.
Police inquiries revealed that these men had planted the bombs to protest the decision of the then Congress-led UPA government, permitting foreign direct investment in the retail sector. Narayanasamy was the Union minister of state in Prime Minister's Office. The NIA took over the case in March 2014.
