A special court in Gujarat on Friday pronounced the death sentence to 38 out of 49 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case. 11 others have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the court. Earlier on 8 February, a Gujarat court convicted 49 accused and acquitted 28 others in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case. Within a span of 70 minutes as many as 21 bomb blasts had taken place in Ahmedabad on 26 July 2008, killing 56 people at various places in the city; 200 people were injured. The terror group, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, had claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Public prosecutor Sudhir Brahmbhatt revealed that one of the accused had conspired to assassinate the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi. This was stated by one of the accused in a statement before a magistrate under Section 164.
The accused are currently lodged in jails in Ahmedabad, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. The trial began on 8 February and the sentencing was announced on Friday.
The court imposed a fine of Rs 2.85 lakh on all the convicts, except one who was fined Rs 2.88 lakh. The court ordered to give compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the deceased, Rs 50,000 to the severely injured and Rs 25,000 to the injured.
Khalid Sheikh, counsel for the accused, said after studying the judgment, if his client wanted, he would appeal to the High Court. “We hoped that fewer people would be punished. The trial in the case has been going on for a long time. We made every effort. Now, after studying the verdict, we will do what we have to do next.” It became clear during the investigation that Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), a banned organisation, has links with Indian Mujahideen. In the 2008 serial blasts, about 15 complaints were registered by the police in Surat and about 20 in Ahmedabad. As many as 78 accused have been prosecuted in the case, while eight are still wanted by the police. Twenty-two of the 28 accused are facing trial in other states and will not be able to get out of jail.
For the first time in the country’s history, 38 people have been sentenced to death at the same time for the act of terrorism. Earlier, 26 people were sentenced to death in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Ahmedabad was rocked on 26 July 2008 by bomb blasts planted in 20 places on bicycles, cars and buses during a 90-minute period from 6.15 pm to 7.45 pm. The blast killed at least 56 people and injured 246 others. The police solved the case in 19 days, arrested the accused in stages and filed a chargesheet in the court.
