A court in India has sentenced to death 38 people for a series of bomb blasts in 2008 in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat state.
It was the first time that so many accused have received death sentences in a single case in India. The sentence must be confirmed by a higher court.
The court had on February 8 convicted 49 people over the coordinated attacks launching shrapnel through markets, buses, and other public places in Gujarat state’s commercial hub. Nearly 80 people were charged overall for the attacks but 28 were acquitted. The convicted were all found guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy.
Judge A R Patel on Friday ordered the punishment after the prosecution pressed for the death sentence describing the incident as a “rarest of rare case” in which innocent lives were lost.
The convictions, handed down at a special court, were in connection to a terrorist attack in July 2008 in Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, when as many as 20 bombs were set off across the city, including at several hospitals, in parks, and on buses, killing 56 people and injuring more than 200.
The attacks occurred in two waves, with explosive devices hidden in lunchboxes and bicycles. The first was near crowded busy shopping centers in Ahmedabad, and the second was about 20 minutes later, in and around hospitals where casualties were being taken and people had gathered to give blood to the victims. At the Civil hospital, 37 people lost their lives when a car laden with explosives drove into the compound.
It was the first time that so many accused have received death sentences in a single case in India. The sentence must be confirmed by a higher court.
The court had on February 8 convicted 49 people over the coordinated attacks launching shrapnel through markets, buses, and other public places in Gujarat state’s commercial hub. Nearly 80 people were charged overall for the attacks but 28 were acquitted. The convicted were all found guilty of murder and criminal conspiracy.
Judge A R Patel on Friday ordered the punishment after the prosecution pressed for the death sentence describing the incident as a “rarest of rare case” in which innocent lives were lost.
The convictions, handed down at a special court, were in connection to a terrorist attack in July 2008 in Ahmedabad, in the state of Gujarat, when as many as 20 bombs were set off across the city, including at several hospitals, in parks, and on buses, killing 56 people and injuring more than 200.
The attacks occurred in two waves, with explosive devices hidden in lunchboxes and bicycles. The first was near crowded busy shopping centers in Ahmedabad, and the second was about 20 minutes later, in and around hospitals where casualties were being taken and people had gathered to give blood to the victims. At the Civil hospital, 37 people lost their lives when a car laden with explosives drove into the compound.
