Srinagar, July 25: Two days after the Rajasthan High Court acquitted six lifers in the 23-year-old case of bomb blast in a bus at Samleti, one of acquits Mohammad Ali Bhatt returned his home in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, on Wednesday. Upon his arrival after spending 23 years behind bars, this first thing that Bhatt did was to prostrate in front of his parents’ grave. The video of Bhatt crying at his parents’ grave is going viral on social media.

In the video, inconsolable Bhatt is seen crying over his parents' grave. Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment, along with six others, by a trial court at Bandikui in Dausa in the 1996 Samleti bomb blast case. The trial court had also awarded death penalty to one person, Abdul Hamid. The division bench of justices Sabina and Goverdhan Bardhar, however, acquitted Bhatt and five others in the case. Kashmiri Cab Driver Returns Bag to Tourist with Valuables Worth Rs 10 Lakh in It.

Those who were freed along with Bhatt on Monday include Javed Khan, Latif Ahmed, Mirja Nissa Hussain, Abdul Ghani and Rais Beg. The high court upheld the death penalty awarded to Abdul Hamid, saying he was the key person behind planting of the bomb in the bus going to Bikaner from Agra on May 22, 1996. The bench also upheld the life term awarded to Pappu alias Salim, holding him to be responsible for supplying the explosives. Two Kashmiri Youths Shun Violence, Return to Mainstream.

Kashmiri Man Breaks Down at Parents' Grave Days After His Acquittal in Blast Case:

Advocate Shahid Hasan, who appeared for the accused, said the court acquitted the six lifers ruling that the prosecution has failed to prove their links with the conspiracy of the blast. The high court bench also upheld the acquittal of a ninth person, Farukh Ahmed Khan, by the Bandikui court in the case earlier in 2014. The state government had challenged the acquitted of Khan, but the high court bench dismissed the appeal against him.

Hamid whose death penalty was upheld in the Samleti bomb blast case is also a key accused in the case related to planting of bombs in the SMS Stadium of Jaipur on January 26, 1996. (With PTI inputs)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 25, 2019 11:45 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).