By TCN Special Correspondent,
Ahmedabad: By lifting its stay on Wednesday, the Supreme Court has cleared the decks for the trial of accused alleged to be involved in July 26, 2008, serial bomb blasts in Ahmedabad and recovery of unexploded bombs in Surat, it will however take some time for the special trial court to start proceedings because of another case pending in the Gujarat High Court.
The case in the Gujarat High Court was filed by Mumbai-based human rights activist Teesta Setalvad representing Citizens for Justice and Peace. Through her advocate, she had challenged the investigators in the case for implicating several persons involved in the blast conspiracy though they were in prison in different states when the serial bombings took place.
An advocate fighting the cases of the blast accused said that he would now be filing a case in the Gujarat high court in a day or two seeking permission from the high court to begin trial in the case after apex court lifting its stay.
The apex court had stayed the trial in February 2009 after the accused persons demanded transfer of the case outside Gujarat, arguing that the trial judge, public prosecutors and chief investigator in the case were biased against them and it was not possible for them to get fair justice in the state where the atmosphere was communally surcharged.
However, family members of the accused here have welcomed the apex court order, saying it would lead to speedy trial in the case.
A total of 59 persons had died and about 150 persons injured in 16 blasts at Raipur, Maninagar, LG Hospital, Civil Hospital, Hatkeshwar, Isanpur, Narol crossroads and in a bus at Sarkhej. As many as 20 unexploded live bombs were recovered from different places in Surat believed to have been planted by the same accused.
Ahmedabad Detection of Crime Branch has so far arrested 69 persons in this connection and filed a total of 35 chargesheets — 20 in connection with Ahmedabad blasts and 15 in Surat case.
However, both the cases of Ahmedabad and Surat were clubbed by the DCB and filed as a single case before the designated trial court. But after the trial court chargesheeted the accused (56 arrested at that time) in February 2009, the apex court stayed the proceedings.
According to investigators, 29 others wanted in the case are still absconding. The absconders, according to DCB, include alleged masterminds of the case Abdul Subhan Tauqeer and Amir Raza Khan, Iqbal Bhatkal and Riyaz Bhatkal.
Among the arrested persons, 20 are from Gujarat and the rest from Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
The entire blast conspiracy in Ahmedabad and Surat was attributed to shadowy terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM) and the Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami(JUHI). The chargesheet had alleged that IM operatives had conducted the blasts at the behest of the JUHI leader Amir Raza Khan hiding in Pakistan.
The police chargesheet had alleged that the accused had taken training in Kerala’s Waghman jungles for carrying out the blasts.
All the accused lodged in the Sabarmati Central jail in Ahmedabad were a year ago reportedly assaulted by the prison staff.