Ahmedabad blast: Convicts highly skilled, 'man-eater leopard' | 5 observations made by court
The special court which has given death sentence to the 38 convicts of the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts case in its order said that they deserve the death sentence as allowing them to remain in society is like releasing a "man-eater leopard" in the public. A copy of the order was made available on Saturday. The court made some strong observations about the case and against the convicts.
1. The court said that the death sentence will be reasonable as the case falls in the "rarest of the rare" category.
2. If such people are allowed to remain in society, it will be like releasing a man-eater leopard in public. Such convicts are like a man-eater leopard that eats innocents in society, including children, youth, elderly, women, men, newborns, and people of different caste and communities, the court said.
Intel to joint ops: How probe into Ahmedabad bomb blasts case unfolded
3. For the people carrying out such terrorist activities, death sentence is the only option, for the sake of peace and safety of the country and its people, it said. There is no jail in the country that can keep them lodged forever.
4. It came to the notice of this court during the course of the proceedings over the last five years that the accused are highly skilled in every aspect- they are educated, with some of them being doctors, professors, and computer experts, and having committed crimes in other states, with cases against them going on in these states. The accused are such that to get information out of them to reach at the root of the crime is a highly difficult job, the court said.
5. Even before committing the crime, the accused persons had made prior plans on how to escape if caught, what kind of information to share and what to hide during the police investigation, and how to defend themselves before the court, it said.
For the first time in the country, such a huge number of death sentences have been handed down in one go. The Ahmedabad blasts were planned to avenge the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat. In the serial blasts in 2008, bombs had exploded at various spots in Ahmedabad, including the state government-run civil hospital, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation-run LG Hospital, on buses, parked bicycles, in cars and other places, killing 56 people. 38 people were convicted by the court under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). 11 others were held guilty for criminal conspiracy and under various sections of the UAPA.
(With agency inputs)