BREAKING: A special Gujarat court pronounced a death sentence to 38 out of 49 convicts in the case related to the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blast case today. The court has ordered life imprisonment for the remaining 11 convicts.
A series of coordinated bomb blasts which took place in Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, killed at least 56 people and left more than 200 injured just within 70 minutes.
On July 26, 2008, Ahmedabad city was rocked by a series of bomb blasts in which 56 people were killed and over 200 hundred injured. Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami had claimed responsibility for the attack. As many as 21 bomb blasts were carried out by the outfit across the city in 70 minutes. The Ahmedabad civil hospital was also targeted in the blasts.
The attack was allegedly carried out to seek revenge for the riots that happened in Godhra, Gujarat in 2002.
Over a period of time, the Gujarat police arrested 85 people for their involvement in the crime but trial commenced against 78 persons.
The accused were convicted under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act, and the Damage to Public Property Act. One accused was also convicted under the Arms Act.
They were convicted under sections 302 (Punishment for murder), 307 (murder attempt), 121 (a) (conspiracy to wage war or attempt to wage war against the nation), and 124 (a) (sedition) among others of the IPC, and 16(1)(a)(b) of the UAPA related to punishment for a terrorist act.
Special Judge A R Patel also awarded a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the family members of people killed in the serial blast.
The court last week had pronounced 49 accused guilty of the crime, while 28 others were acquitted.
