Gujarat High Court on Tuesday gave a major verdict in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case, upholding the death sentence given to 38 convicts and life imprisonment to 11 other convicts. The High Court upheld the decision given by the special court in 2022 and rejected the appeals of all the convicts.
Justice A.Y. A division bench of Justice Kogje and Justice Sameer Dave dismissed all the appeals filed by the convicts against the special court’s verdict. Along with this, the court upheld the decision and sentence of the special court against the members of Indian Mujahideen (IM).
What is the whole matter?
This case is related to the serial bomb blasts that took place in Ahmedabad on 26 July 2008. That day, there were 21 blasts in different areas of the city within just 70 minutes. 56 people were killed in these blasts, while more than 200 people were injured. The attackers also targeted those hospitals where people injured in the blasts were undergoing treatment.
In February 2022, the special court had sentenced 38 convicts to death and 11 others to life imprisonment in this case. The court termed this case as the “rarest of the rare” category and awarded death sentence. After this the culprits challenged this decision in Gujarat High Court.
Now the High Court has also accepted the decision of the special court as correct and has upheld the punishment of all the culprits and has rejected all their appeals. This decision of the High Court is being considered an important legal milestone in this 18 year old case, which is considered to be one of the most gruesome terrorist cases in India.
26 July 2008: What happened that day?
Ahmedabad serial blasts took place on 26 July 2008. A day before this, there were coordinated bomb blasts in Bengaluru also. Starting around 6:45 pm, 21 low-intensity bombs were detonated at 14 different locations in Ahmedabad within about an hour. 56 people lost their lives and more than 200 people were injured in these blasts.
At which places did the blasts take place in Ahmedabad?
Many areas of the city were the target of the blasts, including Maninagar, Raipur, Bapunagar, Hatkeshwar Circle, Sarkhej, Thakkarbapa Nagar, Khadiya, Sarangpur, Jawahar Chowk, Isanpur, Govindwadi, Narol and Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. Apart from this, two hospitals treating the injured were also targeted by the attackers.
What did the investigation reveal?
According to investigating agencies, the blasts were planned in a secret training camp organized by the banned organization Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in Ernakulam district of Kerala in December 2007. It was told that this camp was led by SIMI chief Safdar Nagauri. About 50 people from many states including Gujarat participated in it, who were given weapon handling and physical training.
Which organization had taken responsibility for these attacks?
According to the investigation, a few minutes before the first blast, an email was sent to several media organizations, claiming responsibility for the blasts and also warning of attacks. Later, the banned terrorist organization Indian Mujahideen (IM) took responsibility for these blasts and called them “revenge” for the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Did the blast accused dig a tunnel in the jail?
Eyewitnesses present near the blast sites had said that the explosions were so loud that their hearing was affected for some time. Another major development came to light during the hearing of this case. The allegation was that 24 accused had tried to dig a 213 feet long tunnel to escape from the jail. However, this conspiracy was discovered and foiled before they could escape.
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