Mirza Himayat Baig, the lone convicted accused in the 2010 German Bakery bombing that killed 17 and wounded 64, was today sentenced to death for murder and criminal conspiracy by a sessions court here which termed his crime as "rarest of rare".
Additional sessions judge N P Dhote, after hearing the day-long arguments on the quantum of sentence, pronounced his verdict, saying the case fell under the "rarest of the rare" category warranting the most severe punishment.
The court had on April 15 pronounced Baig, the only person arrested in the blast at the popular eatery on February 13, 2010, that brought Pune on the terror radar, guilty of involvement in the crime. Six others named in the charge sheet in the case, including Yasin Bhatkal who is alleged to have planted the bomb, are still absconding.
The judge sentenced Baig to death under sections 302 (murder), 120 (b) (criminal conspiracy), of IPC, besides section 16 (a) of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and section 3 of Explosive Substances Act which attract death penalty. He was also awarded concurrent life imprisonment under various other sections of IPC, UAPA and Explosives Substances Act.
Baig, who had looked composed when pronounced guilty three days back, was shaken and momentarily fainted today after the judge read out the sentence.
He was given water to drink while being escorted out of the court by policemen under tight security even as some social groups burst firecrackers outside the premises hailing the judicial system.
