Ahmedabad: A special court designated for the speedy trial of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case sentenced 38 of the 49 convicts to death under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The 11 others were sentenced to life in jail till death.
The court had on February 8 convicted 49 people in the serial blasts case which had claimed 56 lives and leftover 200 injured.
In a gruesome terror attack on July 26, 2008, around 20 bomb blasts had taken place across Ahmedabad within a span of 70 minutes.
The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 2.85 lakh on each of the 48 convicts. Pronouncing the judgment, Special Judge AR Patel awarded a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to those who had died in the blasts and awarded a compensation of Rs 50,000 for victims with serious injuries and Rs 25,000 for those with minor ones.
The Gujarat Police had claimed that the terror attack was carried out by people associated with Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). The police had claimed that the serial blasts were an act of revenge for the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
Following the serial blasts, the Indian Mujahideen had sent emails to media outlets claiming responsibility for the terror attacks. Notably, days after the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, the police had recovered more bombs from different parts of Surat.
(_Vinayak)