AHMEDABAD: A special court pronounced its judgment in the case related to the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts that claimed 56 lives. Special Court acquits 28 accused Out of 77, while 49 accused convicted. Court will pronounce sentence tomorrow.
The court had concluded the trial in the more than 13-year-old case in September last year. Court pronounced its judgment on Tuesday as special judge AR Patel, who presided over the trial court, has resumed work after recovering from COVID-19.
The trial court had set February 1 as the date for the judgment, but the matter was deferred to February 8 after the judge fell ill. At least 56 people were killed and over 200 injured in 21 bomb blasts that rockedAhmedabad city within a span of 70 minutes on July 26, 2008.
The police had claimed people associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of radicals of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were involved in the blasts. It was alleged IM terrorists had planned and executed the attack as revenge for the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Days after the Ahmedabad blasts, cops recovered bombs from different parts of Surat, after which 20 FIRs were registered in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat. The trial in the case began in December 2009 against 78 persons connected to IM after the court merged all 35 FIRs.
The number of accused came down to 77 after one of them turned approver. Four more accused were arrested later, but their trial has not yet commenced, a senior government lawyer said. Over 1,100 witnesses were examined by the prosecution.
The accused are facing charges of murder and criminal conspiracy, among others, and they have also been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The special court initially heard the case from inside the high security Sabarmati Central Jail and the proceedings were later conducted mostly through video-conferencing.
When the trial was underway, some of the incarcerated accused had allegedly tried to escape by digging a 213 feet long tunnel in the jail in 2013. The trial for this jailbreak attempt is still pending.