38 Of 49 Convicts Sentenced To Death In 2008 Ahmedabad Blasts Case

A special court on Friday sentenced to death 38 out of the 49 people convicted in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case in which 56 people were killed.

A Gujarat court had convicted 49 accused and acquitted 28 others in the case on February 8. Out of the 49, 38 were today sentenced to death. Trial on case which was ongoing for over 13 years, was ended in September last year.

56 people were killed and over 200 others were left injured in 21 blasts that rocked Gujarat’s Ahmedabad within a span of 70 minutes on July 26, 2008.

The terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was behind the blasts, police had claimed.

Police alleged that IM terrorists had planned and executed the explosions as a revenge of the 2002 post Godhra riots in Gujarat.

Trials in the case had begun in December 2009 against 78 people connected to the Indian Mujahideen after the court had merged all 35 FIRs registered in connection with the case. After one of the accused turned approver, the total accused in the case came down to 77.