By IANS,
Guwahati : Ahead of the verdict on Bodo outfit leader Ranjan Daimary’s bail plea, the families of 2008 Assam serial blasts victims Sunday demanded that it be rejected and he be awarded exemplary punishment for the bombings that left over 100 dead and 500 others injured.
The Gauhati High Court heard the bail plea of Daimary, chief of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Saturday and is expected to give its verdict April 3. Daimary’s lawyers moved the petition in 2011 after his arrest, saying it will expedite the proposed peace talks between his NDFB faction and the central government.
Forum for Terrorists Victim Family, Assam – an organization floated by family members of all the victims of terrorists attacks in Assam – had however raised strong objections in granting bail to the rebel leader.
“It will be a gross injustice to us if the court grants bail to Daimary. We have lost our family members during the serial blasts. Our family members died without any fault of theirs. Ranjan Daimary is responsible for the crime and he must get exemplary punishment,” said Indranil Kalita, publicity secretary of the Forum while addressing the media here.
“We are expecting severe punishment for Daimary, who had killed so many people. All the members of the terrorist victims’ families will lost faith on the judicial system of the country if bail is granted to him,” said Kamala Choudhury, who lost her husband in the 2008 blasts.
“How can the court release him on bail? My husband was an innocent person. Should not I get justice from the court for the death of my husband?
“I want to know what crime my husband had committed for which he was killed. The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) had named Daimary as the main culprit for the serial blasts-this indicates that he should get severe punishment like death penalty for killing so many innocent people,” she said.
Another victim, Daisy Rani Kalita, citing the Supreme Court verdict on the 1993 Mumbai blasts, said: “When even a prominent actor like Sanjay Dutt could not even evade the punishment, how can Ranjan Daimary get bail after killing over so many innocent people in Assam?”
“If it is for the sake of peace talks, the government must convince Daimary to continue the talks process from inside the jail,” said Kalita, who also lost her husband in the 2008 serial blasts in Guwahati.
The Forum also threatened to launch a movement across the state if Daimary is released on bail.