Ahmedabad, Feb 8: In the 2008 “serial blasts case”, a special court in Ahmedabad on Tuesday delivered its verdict after 13 years of trial. The Special Court holds 49 guilty in the case, that left 56 dead and 200 injured. The 21 synchronised blasts rocked the Gujarat city in a span of just 20 minutes on the fateful day, 26th July 2008.
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on tomorrow (Wednesday).
The court acquitted 28 other accused. As many as 77 faced the trial in the case that began in December 2009 against 78 people connected to the banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). The number of accused later came down to 77, after one of them turned approver.
In 2008, after the serial blasts, the Gujarat Police busted a nationwide network of radical elements from a minority community involved in carrying out serial blasts in the city.
The police said people associated with banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of radicals of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), were allegedly involved in carrying out the serial blasts in which over 200 people sustained serious injuries. The blasts had occurred at several places, including the trauma centre of Ahmedabad’s civil hospital.
The police had also alleged that the terrorists associated with IM had planned and executed the blasts in retaliation for the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.
