Gauhati HC acquits all six accused in 2004 Dhemaji blast case

The HC acquitted the accused giving them benefit of doubt as the prosecution could not prove their guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

The Gauhati High Court on Thursday acquitted all six accused in the case related to 2004 bomb blast in North Assam's Dhemaji in which 18 persons, including 13 school children, were killed.

The HC acquitted the six giving them the benefit of doubt.

The six were convicted by a court of district and sessions judge in Dhemaji in July 2019, in which four were awarded life imprisonment for the attack that outraged Assam. The accused had moved the High Court challenging their conviction by the lower court.

The blast was carried out by United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), a banned insurgent group, when the children were taking part in the celebrations of Independence Day in Dhemaji college playground.

Pronouncing the judgment on Thursday, a bench of Justices Michael Zothankhuma and Mridul Kumar Kalita said the trial court had convicted the accused without the prosecution being able to prove the charges against them beyond any reasonable doubt. "As the prosecution has not been able to prove the guilt in respect of the charges framed against them, they are acquitted of the charges, by giving them benefit of doubt," the HC order said.

Lawyer of the petitioners, Abhijit Khanikar, told reporters that the HC did not say that they were not involved in the crime but acquitted them as the prosecution could not prove them guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

The acquittal left the victims' families disappointed. They blamed the police and the state government for failing to prove the involvement of the accused in the attack.

"We thought we got justice when the sessions court pronounced them life imprisonment. But the high court's judgment today exposed the lack of commitment shown by our investigators in giving us justice," a family member of a victim said. They urged the state government to file an appeal petition in the HC and instruct the police to carry out proper investigation for giving justice to the families.

ULFA had then denied its involvement in the blast but five years later in 2009, the outfit admitted that it was behind the attack. Leaders of the outfit had even apologised publicly as the blast led to public outpouring of hate against it. Leaders of the outfit said the Dhemaji blast was one of the reasons that led to decimation of ULFA's public support base.

The district and sessions judge court had pronounced life imprisonment for Muhi Handique, Jatin Dowari, Dipanjali Borgohain and Lila Gogoi while two others, Prashanta Bhuyan and Hemen Gogoi were awarded four years of jail and fine of Rs. 5,000 each.