Death sentence for 38 in 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case

Gandhinagar: A special court designated for the speedy trial of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case on Friday sentenced 38 convicts to death and 11 to life imprisonment.

Judge Ambalal R Patel announced a compensation of Rs one lakh for the families of the deceased, Rs 50,000 for the seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.

Besides, the court imposed a fine of Rs 2.85 lakh each on the convicts and directed the Gujarat government to award the compensation from the amount collected from the guilty.

One of the convicted, Mohammad Usman Agarbattiwala from Vadodara who was also found guilty under the Arms Act, was awarded one year imprisonment on top of the punishment. He has to pay Rs 2.88 lakh.

The punishment was awarded under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and Sections 10 and 16 (1) (a) (b) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). A fine of Rs 25,000 was also imposed on each of the 38 for each of the three offences.

Besides these provisions, all the 49 convicted have been sentenced to life imprisonment under four provisions of the law -- UAPA Section 20, Explosive Substances Act section 3 and IPC sections 124 A (sedition), 121 A (waging war against the state). All the sentences will run concurrently.

On February 8, the court had convicted 49 persons out of a total of 77 accused in connection with this incident. Another 28 were acquitted and one accused Ayaz Saiyed, who had turned approver in the case in 2019, was acquitted of all charges.

Eleven of the 28 acquitted are out of jail, while 17 others continue to be in judicial custody owing to their requirement in other criminal cases.

As many as 20 bombs went off in different parts of the city on July 26, 2008, killing 56 people and injuring 246 others.