13 years after serial blasts' terror tremors in Ahmedabad, 49 held guilty

More than 13 years after 20 bomb blasts had Ahmedabad convulsing in terror, a special court on Tuesday held 49 persons guilty and acquitted 28 others. The coordinated terror attack on the city on the evening of July 26, 2008, had killed 56 people and injured 246.

The case also included the planting of 29 bombs in Surat, which did not explode and were found a couple of days later. On Wednesday, the court will decide on the quantum of punishment for the convicts and the compensation for the victims.

The synchronized bomb blasts which ripped the city through a span of 90 minutes had the nation shocked as it was seen an upgrade terror strike preceded by low-intensity blasts across India in Varanasi, Jaipur and Bengaluru.

Top Gujarat cops cracked the case in record 20 days with a major breakthrough coming as 15 phone numbers, which were used only on July 26 and never after, leading to a massive police hunt nabbing accused from 11 states across India including Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, and Uttar Pradesh.

Special judge A R Patel read out the operative part of his 6,752-page judgment in a videoconference in 6 minutes flat. In all, 78 persons had been put on trial. Special judge Patel granted the benefit of the doubt to 28 persons after evidence against them was found inadequate.

The court granted pardon to one accused, Aijaz Saiyed, who had turned an approver.

Two persons accused of conspiracy and sending threat mails and subsequently claiming responsibility for the terror strike, Mubin Shaikh and Mansur Pirbhoy, have been acquitted. Among the 49 convicted are a former leader of the banned outfit Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Safdar Nagori, and his associates. P 2 & 3