A special court in Ahmedabad announced the sentences in the 2008 Ahmedabad bomb blast case on Friday 18th February 2022. In the verdict, the court has awarded death sentences to as many as 38 convicts out of the 49 accused who were convicted in this case, while the remaining 11 have been sentenced to life imprisonment until death. Earlier on 8th February 2022, the court had convicted 49 out of 77 accused in the case. The serial bomb blasts that took place in Ahmedabad on 26th July 2008 had caused 56 deaths and 243 innocent citizens were injured in the blasts.
All the convicts virtually attended the court today when the sentences were awarded. As per law, the death sentences will need to be confirmed by the Gujarat High Court.
The list of all 49 convicts in the case is given below. The names of those who were awarded the death penalty among them will be known later when the detailed court order is made public.
| 1. Zahid Sheikh | 18. Sarfuddin Itti | 34. Abubasar Sheikh |
| 2. Imran Sheikh | 19. Md. Sadiq Sheikh | 35. Abaas Sameza |
| 3. Iqbal Sheikh | 20. Md Arif Sheikh | 36. Saifu Ansari |
| 4. Samsuddin Sheikh | 21. Akbar Chaudhary | 37. Md. Saif Sheikh |
| 5. Javed Sheikh | 22. Fazal Durani | 38. Zishan Sheikh |
| 6. Asif Sheikh | 23. Nausad Sayed | 39. Jia-ur-Rahman |
| 7. Atique Khiljee | 24. Ahmed Barelvi | 40. Tanveer Pathan |
| 8. Mehdi Ansari | 25. Rafiq Afidi | 41. Abraar Maniyar |
| 9. Safiq Ansari | 26. Amin Sheik | 42. Shaduli Karim |
| 10. Rafiuddin | 27. Md. Mobin Khan | 43. Tausif Pathan |
| 11. Arif Mirza | 28. Md. Ansar | 44. Md. Ali Ansari |
| 12. Kabumuddin | 29. Gyasuddin Ansari | 45. Md. Ismail |
| 13. Sibyl Muslim | 30. Arif Kagzi | 46. Kamruddin |
| 14. Safdar Nagori | 31. Usmaan | 47. Aleem Kazi |
| 15. Hafiz Mulla | 32. Yunus Mansoori | 48. Aniq Sayed |
| 16. Sajid Mansoori | 33. Imran Pathan | 49. Md. Shaqil |
| 17. Afzal Usmani |
The special court judge AR Patel had already acquitted 28 accused. Along with these punishments, judge AR Patel has also awarded various compensations to the deceased and the injured in this incident. Rs. 1 lakh compensation is awarded to those who were killed in this attack. Victims with serious injuries are awarded Rs. 50000 compensation while those having minor injuries are awarded a compensation of Rs. 25000. Besides, the court has also imposed a fine of Rs. 2.85 lakhs on all the convicts.
The arguments from the prosecution had concluded on 14th February 2022 and the verdict was awaited. These accused were convicted by the court under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, UAPA that is Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Explosive Substances Act, and Damage to Public Property Act. The sections imposed include section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 121 (a) (conspiracy to wage war or attempt to wage war against the nation) and 124 (a) (sedition), and Section 16(1)(a)(b) of the UAPA pertaining to terrorist acts.
On 26th July 2008, 20 serial bomb blasts had left the city of Ahmedabad in shock. The haunting memories of this terror attack still leave the people in a trauma-like situation. Within three weeks of the attack, major arrests, in this case, had taken place owing to the coordinated efforts of the Gujarat police and the ATS. A big network of the Indian Mujahidin terrorists was exposed. These terrorists were also involved in the bomb blasts in other cities of the country. Then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had extended every possible support to the investigating officers in order to ensure that a strong case is built against the terrorists.
The Gujarat police had claimed that these attacks were executed as an attempt to take revenge for the 2002 post-Godhra riots. Indian Mujahidin was a section of the banned organization Students Islamic Movement of India that is SIMI. The terrorists have threat emails about these blasts to various news channels and media houses. Also, a few days after the blasts, a large number of live bombs were found and defused in Surat city of Gujarat.
