The timing and locations of the bombs that went off at two hospitals in Ahmedabad on July 26, 2008, were chosen with an aim to kill the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, then home minister Amit Shah, MLAs, relatives of patients and others assuming they would rush to these hospitals to attend to people injured in bombings in other areas, the special court noted in its verdict sentencing 38 Indian Mujahideen cadres to death and giving life terms to 11 others.
The court also stated in its order- the copy of which was uploaded on the court’s website on Saturday- that the accused were trained to carry out mass killings to target the Hindu population.
“Arrangements were made with full understanding and planning to create hatred and anger against the government so as to pave the way for Islamic rule in India,” it said.
On a fateful evening on July 26, 2008, as many as 21 blasts ripped through Ahmedabad city killing 56 people and injuring over 200 within 70 minutes.
Special court judge AR Patel stated that the accused targeted two hospitals –civic-run LG and state-run civil –in Ahmedabad by planting powerful bombs with the plan to kill the then chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleague Amit Shah and others.
“It can be seen clearly that the intention of the accused was to cause a mass casualty, as well as to kill then chief minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, MLAs Pradipsinh Jadeja, and the then social worker Pradip Parmar,” the court said.
The timing of the serial bombings in Ahmedabad between 6 pm and 6:45 pm was selected after careful thought, the court said, adding that the powerful bombs at the two hospitals went off quite sometime after 6.45 pm.
“They knew well that Modi and other ministers and MLAs would rush to the hospitals to attend to the injured who would be taken there, after bombings in other parts (of the city),” it said.
“Several social workers and the public would also gather there in a large number out of curiosity, and an explosion there would cause a massacre on a large scale,” the court observed.
The bombs were planted in the two hospitals with the plan to cause a mass casualty, the judge observed in the order, saying that the accused knew very well that when the injured would be rushed to the hospital for treatment, and the then chief minister Modi will also reach there, it said.
The court also said that the accused have accepted the fact that they were trained with the aim to carry out mass killings. “Further, they aimed to target the Hindu population can be seen from the fact that only one out of 56 deceased, and only nine out of around 240 injured was Muslims,” it said.
The court also said that the accused planned mass killing by planting bombs specifically in localities with the majority Hindu population to challenge the Constitutionally elected government and ensure its removal with the false belief that Gujarat’s Narendra Modi government is anti-Muslim.
“Arrangements were made with full understanding and planning to create hatred and anger against the government so as to pave the way for Islamic rule in India,” said the court.
The locations were selected to plant the bombs with the aim to kill and injure the maximum number of people, with a specific target of Hindu-dominated localities, it added.
“After careful planning, explosions were carried out between 6 pm and 6:45 pm on July 26, 2008. The reason is that the accused had full knowledge and information that when bombs will go off in the given time period, those killed and injured would be rushed to LG Hospital in the city’s Maninagar as well as Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad for treatment,” the court said.
Apart from the bombs that were planted in bags on cycles at 18 different places in the city, bombs were also planted along with gas cylinders in cars in the two hospitals for high-intensity blasts to ensure large casualties at these hospitals, court said.
“The news of the bomb blast would spread like wildfire across the state and in the country. With the arrival of the injured, the staff would rush to attend to them. Not just that, even the relatives of the injured persons would reach the hospitals, and with them, many social workers would also rush. A large number of people would turn up to the hospitals out of curiosity.
“To carry out mass casualty and kill a large number of people gathering at the hospitals, they preferred the time for the bombings between 6 pm and 6:45 pm. They did so with the idea that apart from those injured, several others including then chief minister Narendra Modi and other ministers would gather at the hospitals and get killed in the massacre,” said the court.
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.
As many as 29 live bombs were also found in Surat in the next couple of days, though none of them exploded.
While 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, the prosecution had said. The court imposed a fine of Rs 2.85 lakh on 48 convicts and Rs 2.88 lakh on another convict.
The court also awarded compensation of Rs one lakh to the kin of those who died in the blasts, Rs 50,000 to those who were seriously injured and Rs 25,000 to those who received minor injuries.
