A special court here on Monday awarded death penalty to Ahmed Murtaza Abbasi who had attacked the security personnel at the gate of Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur with a sickle in April last year.

The NIA-ATS Special Court of Vivekanand Sharan Tripathi found Abbasi guilty under Sections 121 (waging war) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code. \

Abbasi had attacked two jawans of the Provincial Armed Constabulary — Anil Kumar Paswan and Gopal Gaur — with a sickle on April 4. Abbasi had also entered the temple premises and attacked with bricks anybody who tried to go near him. He was arrested from the temple, which is headed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath as the mahant.

Prashant Kumar, additional director-general of police, said: “Abbasi got capital punishment under Section 121 of the IPC and life term under Section 307. The case was heard regularly in the last 60 days.”

Vinay Kumar Mishra, a constable, had filed the case against Abbasi at Gorakhnath police station and 27 witnesses recorded their statements before the court. Vipin Tanda, senior superintendent of police of Gorakhpur, had said: “Murtaza Abbasi, a resident of Civil Lines, Gorakhpur, had attacked the security personnel at the temple while chanting religious slogans.”

“The accused had also sustained injuries during his arrest and was treated at Sadar Hospital in the city,” Tanda had said.

The then additional chief secretary at the home department, Awanish Awasthi, had concluded that it was a “terrorist attack with some deep conspiracy”.