More than 13 years after 20 bomb blasts had Ahmedabad convulsing in terror, a special court held 49 persons guilty and acquitted 28 others. The coordinated terror attack on the city on July 26, 2008, had killed 56 people and injured 246.
The case also included the planting of 29 bombs in Surat, which did not explode and were found a couple of days later. The court will decide on the quantum of punishment for the convicts and the compensation for the victims. The blasts took place in a span of 90 minutes.
Top Gujarat cops cracked the case in record 20 days with a major breakthrough coming as 15 phone numbers, which were used only on July 26 and never after, leading to a massive police hunt nabbing accused from 11 states across India including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
Special judge A R Patel read out his 6,752-page verdict in a video conference. In all, 78 people had been put on trial. Special judge granted the benefit of the doubt to 28 persons after evidence against them was found inadequate.
The court granted pardon to one, Aijaz Saiyed, who had turned an approver. Two persons accused of conspiracy and sending threat mails and subsequently claiming responsibility for the terror strike, Mubin Shaikh and Mansur Pirbhoy, have been acquitted. Among the 49 convicted are a former leader of the banned outfit Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Safdar Nagori, and his associates.
They have been convicted under different provisions of the Indian Penal Code. All 49 have been held guilty of serious crimes such as murder, attempt to commit murder, criminal conspiracy, attempt to wage war against the nation, sedition, participating in unlawful activities, and terrorist activities. Many of these charges attract death penalty. Special prosecutor Amit Patel said that he will seek the maximum punishment for the convicts.
State police chief Ashish Bhatia, who as joint CP (crime) had overseen blast probe, said, “The investigation and arrests by the police broke the terror module which had a nationwide impact as negligible blast cases of such magnitude took place after 2008 serial blasts.” The accused attended court online from eight different prisons in various states, where they have been lodged for other trials. Some are serving sentences after being convicted in separate cases.
The serial blasts took place in Civil Hospital, wherein 37 people were killed. Among the victims were blood donors who had rushed to the hospital to help those injured in other explosions. A bomb exploded in the LG Hospital parking lot too, but none was injured there.
The trial was conducted by the court after merging 35 different cases, resulting from 20 FIRs filed in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat. After the horror, Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the terror strike and termed it a reprisal for the 2002 riots. There were 26 star witnesses, whose identities were not disclosed. Four accused were treated as approvers after admitting their confessions, though they fought a legal battle asserting their retractions later. The court found all four guilty.
