2008 Assam blast case: CBI court awards life imprisonment to NDFB chief, nine others

 GUWAHATI: The chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Ranjan Daimary, and nine others were sentenced to life imprisonment by a CBI special court on Wednesday in the 2008 Assam serial blast case that had claimed 88 lives.

Amid tight security in court premises, CBI Special Judge Aparesh Chakraborty pronounced the quantum of punishment for Daimary, George Bodo, B Tharai, Raju Sarkar, Anchai Bodo, Indra Brahma, Loko Basumatary, Khargeswar Basumatary, Ajay Basumatary and Rajen Goyary.

Three other convicts - Prabhat Bodo, Jayanti Basumatary and Mathura Brahma - will be released after they pay a fine imposed by the court.

The CBI court has ordered the release of Nilim Daimary and Mridul Goyary as they have already served their sentence. Daimary and 14 others were convicted on Monday under various sections of the IPC.

The NDFB chief's bail was cancelled immediately after his conviction and arrested, while the 14 others were already in judicial custody.

Nine serial blasts were triggered by the NDFB on October 30, 2008 -- three each in Guwahati and Kokrajhar, two in Barpeta and one in Bongaigaon -- killing 88 people and injuring 540 others.