(Image source from: thehindu.com)
A special court in Gujarat today announced the judgment in the case related Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts that took place in 2008. 56 people lost their lives in the attack and 80 people have been arrested and are on trial. The court announced that 49 of them are accused and acquitted 28 of them. The quantum of punishment will be announced tomorrow. 16 out of the 28 acquitted were given the benefit of the doubt while 12 have been announced innocent. The trial has been on for 13 years. More than 200 people were injured and the total number of blasts that took place are said to be 21. The incident took place on July 26th 2008.
Indian Mujahideen (IM), a faction of radicals of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) are responsible for the blasts. This is a part of the revenge for 2002 Godhra riots in Gujarat. After these attacks in Ahmedabad, the cops recovered the bombs from Surat. 20 FIRs have been registered in Ahmedabad and 15 were registered in Surat. The trail commenced in 2009 and 78 related to Indian Mujahideen are arrested. One of them turned approver and four others were arrested later. 1100 witnesses have been examined by the prosecution.
The special court investigated the case and the hearings happened in Sabarmati Central jail. But later, they were done through video-conferencing. Some of the accused tried to escape from the jail by bugging 213 feet tunnel in 2013. The trail for this attempt is still pending in the court and it would be revealed tomorrow.
By Siva Kumar
