GUWAHATI: The self-styled supremo of National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Ranjan Daimary was pronounced guilty by the CBI Special Court here in triggering the dreadful serial blasts that rocked Assam including Guwahati city on October 30, 2008.
The court in the landmark judgement also pronounced guilty 15 other accused in the serial blasts that claimed 88 persons besides injuring hundreds.
Ranjan Daimary is the prime accused in the case. The 13 other accused who were pronounced guilty included George Boro, Ajoy Basumatary, Rahul Brahma, Rajen Goyari, Mathuram Brahma, Raju Sarkar, Prabhat Boro, Onsai Boro, Nilim Daimary, Indra Basumatary, Lokra Basumatary, Jayanti Brahma and B Thorai.
One of the accused Mridul Goyari was acquitted of the charges.
It may be mentioned here that nine serial blasts ripped through Assam on October 30, 2008 leaving 88 people dead and injuring close to 500 others including 160 with serious injuries.
The blasts took place in Guwahati’s Ganeshguri, Panbazar and Kachari Ghat areas and at Barpeta, Kokrajhar, and Bongaigaon towns almost simultaneously on October 30, 2008,
The Assam government handed over the investigation to CBI, who had filed two charge sheets in 2009 and in 2010 naming 22 people including NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary. However, only 15 of them were in judicial custody now as seven of them were absconding, out of which three were reported to be dead.
Daimary who was arrested in Bangladesh in December 2009 and subsequently handed over to Indian authorities, was granted bail by the court in 2013 after he agreed to sit for peace talks.
The absconding accused includes B Bidai, Ganes Boro, Tarun Swargiary, Jitu Daimary and the three reported dead includes Binthilang, Uttam Swargiary and Tensu Narzary.
The CBI filed a charge sheet against 22 people, including the NDFB chief Ranjan Daimary in 2010.
“We have named 650 witnesses in the case who were examined by the court and listed 687 documents as evidence in the case,” said Special Public prosecutor TD Goswami while talking to the media outside the court on Monday.
Ranjan Daimary alias DR Nabla formed the Boro Security Force (BSF) a secessionist group to fight for a separate Boroland in October 3, 1986 but later changed its name to National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).
Although the outfit entered a ceasefire agreement with the government of India in 2005, they were seen flouting the ceasefire ground rules often.
The outfit suffered split in 2008 after the serial blasts in Assam as the investigating agencies named Ranjan Daimary as the mastermind behind the blasts. Since then Ranjan Daimary has been heading NDFB(R) faction.