NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, FEB 8
A special court in Gujarat on Tuesday acquitted 28 accused and convicted 49 others in the July 26, 2008 Ahmedabad serial blast case.
A total of 56 persons were killed and over 200 injured in the 21 bomb blasts that rocked Ahmedabad city in the late evening of July 26, 2008. The 21 blasts took place within a span of 70 minutes.
About 80 accused were put on trial. Four more accused were arrested later, but their trial has not yet commenced, a senior government lawyer said.
The court had concluded the trial in the more than 13-year-old case in September 2021.
In its order, the court today acquitted 28 out of the 77 accused in the matter. A total of 49 accused were convicted. Out of the 28 acquitted, 16 were given a benefit of doubt, while 12 were pronounced innocent due to lack of evidence.
The quantum of punishment in the case will be announced tomorrow. Over 1,100 witnesses were examined by the prosecution.
The trial in the case began in December 2009 against 78 persons connected to the Indian Mujahideen after the court merged all 35 FIRs. The number of accused came down to 77 after one of them turned approver.
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.
Days after the serial blasts in Ahmedabad, the police recovered bombs from different parts of Surat. Following the recovery, 20 FIRs were registered in Ahmedabad and 15 in Surat.
The accused are facing charges of murder and criminal conspiracy, among others, and they have also been booked under relevant provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), an anti-terror 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.
