Babbar Khalsa men own up to ’05 Delhi blasts

Banned terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International’s chief Jagtar Singh Hawara and four others on Thursday pleaded guilty to their roles in the 2005 twin blasts at Satyam and Liberty cinema halls in New Delhi.

The five were sentenced to seven years in jail — time already done by them while waiting for the case to be decided. Balwinder Singh, Jaspal Singh, Vikas Sehgal and Jagannath Yadav will all be freed.

But, Hawara, serving a life term for assassinating former Punjab CM Beant Singh, will remain in jail. While the BKI chief was only accused of harbouring two of his accomplices, the other four pleaded guilty to offences including conspiring against the state and attempt to murder.

Sixty people were injured in the May 22, 2005 blasts during the screening of controversial Hindi film Jo Bole So Nihaal. First blast was reported from Liberty cinema on GT Karnal Road in central Delhi at 8.15pm. Twenty minutes later, a bomb went off at Patel Nagar’s Satyam cinema.