A Special court awarded death sentence to 38 out of 49 convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case on Friday. The 11 other convicts were sentenced to life imprisonment until death.
The court had on February 8 convicted 49 people in the serial blasts case which had claimed 56 lives and left over 200 injured. Special judge AR Patel acquitted 28 accused.
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 had convicted the 49 accused under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosive Substances Act and Damage to Public Property Act. The Sections involved Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 121 (a) (conspiracy to wage war or attempt to wage war against the nation) and 124 (a) (sedition) and Section 16(1)(a)(b) of the UAPA pertaining to terrorist acts.
As many as 22 bombs went off in Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, at various spots, including the state government-run civil hospital, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run LG Hospital, on buses, parked bicycles, in cars and other places, killing 56 persons and leaving around 200 injured. Of the 24 bombs, one each at Kalol and Naroda, did not go off.
In emails that were sent to some media houses, the Indian Mujahideen (IM), an organisation that had not been heard of until then, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
