The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld a special court order sentencing 38 convicts to death and 11 others to life imprisonment in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts, which claimed 56 lives.
A division bench of justices A Y Kogje and Samir Dave rejected all appeals against the order of the lower court and upheld its verdict confirming the sentences to members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the case.
Investigative agencies stated that the entire conspiracy was uncovered based on evidence such as bicycles, cars, mobile phones, SIM cards, emails, forensic findings, and witness testimonies.
A total of 77 accused were charged in the case. Following a lengthy trial, a special court in Ahmedabad convicted 49 of the accused on February 8, 2022, while acquitting 28 due to a lack of evidence.
On July 26, 2008, a series of 21 bomb blasts ripped through Ahmedabad in a span of 70 minutes, killing 56 persons and injuring 200 others. Some hospitals in the city were also targeted.
A special court in 2022 sentenced 38 IM members to death. The court had also sentenced 11 other convicts to life imprisonment.
The Islamic terror group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) had claimed responsibility for the attacks.