On Friday, a special court sentenced 38 terrorists to death penalty and handed over life imprisonment to 11 terrorists of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case. .
On July 26, 2008, 21 explosions had ripped through the city within just 70 minutes. These blasts had claimed 56 lives and injured over 200 people. The motive of these terrorists for planting bombs was to avenge the post-Godhra riots.
While the terrorists held training camps in the forests of Gujarat and Kerala, they assembled bombs in rented premises in cities like Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat and Pune.
In its 7,000-page judgment, the special court judge has also observed that the convicts had planned to kill then CM Narendra Modi, then home minister of Gujarat Amit Shah, then Roads & Building and Revenue minister Anandiben Patel, then Urban Development and Urban Housing minister Nitin Patel and MLA Pradipsinh Jadeja.
During the investigation, it was found that former members of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) formed a new outfit, Indian Mujahideen (IM), and undertook terror activities.
The court conducted a trial on charges of this conspiracy, along with other evidence like confession made by Tanvir Shaikh before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the CrPC.
He confessed that during a training camp in Waghamon in Kerala, they discussed mass killings and targeting Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and his ministers.
Shaikh later recanted his statement, but the court relied on the confession. As a result, Shaikh was convicted and given the death penalty with 37 others.
The trial also took place based on this charge of criminal conspiracy under Section 120B of the IPC.
The court had convicted 49 persons and acquitted 28 others in this case on 8th February. The quantum of punishment was announced on Friday.
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