NIA court sentences Gorakhnath Temple attacker to death

A National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Monday awarded death sentence to Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi, who had attacked the security personnel with a sharp edged weapon at the famous Gorakhnath Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur town in April last year injuring two PAC jawans.

Special judge, NIA court, Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi found Murtaza guilty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and termed the attack as ''war against the nation''. The court had earlier held him guilty on Friday.

Two PAC jawans were injured after they were attacked with a sharp edged weapon by Murtaza at the entry gate of the Gorakhnath Temple in Gorakhpur, the home town of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, about 300 kilometres from here. He had also raised religious slogans and tried to snatch weapons from the security personnel.

Murtaza, who studied chemical engineering at Mumbai, was a resident of Gorakhpur town, had also suffered injuries in scuffle with the cops, who managed to overpower him. The incident was investigated by the anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of the state police.

Abbasi;s family resided in the city and owned a nursing home. The cops had also quizzed his family members. The ATS had said that Murtaza had connections with some anti-national organisations.

As many as 27 witnesses, including the PAC jawans, had testified in the court against Murtaza, who, in his defence only pleaded that he was ''mentally unstable''. The court however rejected his contention. .