Rajasthan Urges Centre To Ask CBI To Appeal Acquittal Of Abdul Karim Tunda

Jaipur:

BJP MP Ghanshyam Tiwari on Thursday said the Rajasthan government has urged the Centre to ask the CBI to file an appeal challenging the acquittal of Abdul Karim Tunda in the 1993 serial blast case.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday, Mr Tiwari said, “The case was probed by the CBI and it was their lawyers, who argued for the agency when the case went to trial. The Rajasthan government has nothing to do with this case. However, in the interest of justice, the state government and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma today urged the central government to ask the CBI to file an appeal in the matter.”

The Terrorist and Anti-Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court on Thursday acquitted Abdul Karim Tunda, the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case, citing lack of evidence.

Advocate Shafqat Sultani of Tunda said that the CBI failed to present any strong evidence against Tunda.

“Abdul Karim Tunda is innocent, the court said in its judgment today. He has been acquitted of all sections. The CBI’s prosecutors could not produce any concrete piece of evidence before the court in TADA, IPC, Railway Acts, Arms Act, or Explosive Substances Act,” advocate Sultani, representing the defendant, told reporters.

The BJP had earlier accused the Congress of ‘appeasement’ following the acquittal of the accused in the 2008 Jaipur serial blasts case.

Over 80 persons were killed and more than 183 injured in the Jaipur bomb blasts on May 13, 2008. Eight explosions rocked the city on the day, sending shockwaves throughout the country.

The CBI had accused Tunda of being the mastermind behind the blasts on four trains on the first anniversary of the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition.

“We had been saying from the beginning that Abdul Karim Tunda is innocent. Irfan and Hamiduddin have been convicted and the quantum of the sentence will be pronounced shortly,” the advocate added.

The charges were framed against Tunda, and two other accused, identified as Irfan alias Pappu and Hamiruddin, for orchestrating the blasts in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai on the intervening night of December 5-6, 1993.

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