The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per ...

, India, on 26 July 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. Fifty-six people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Ahmedabad is the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, and a large part of

western India Western India is a loosely defined region of India consisting of its western part. The Ministry of Home Affairs in its Western Zonal Council Administrative division includes the states of Goa, Gujarat, and Maharashtra along with the Union ...

. The blasts were considered to be of low intensity, and were similar to the Bangalore blasts,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

which occurred the day before. This bombings were done by Islamic Terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. Several TV channels said they had received an e-mail from a terror outfit called

Indian Mujahideen Indian Mujahideen (IM) is an Islamic terrorist group which has been particularly active in India. The jihadist group was founded as an offshoot of the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) by several radicalized members including Iqbal B ...

claiming responsibility for the terror attacks; Islamic militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, however, has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The Gujarat police arrested the suspected mastermind, Mufti Abu Bashir, along with nine others, in connection to the bombings.Abu Bashir behind Ahmedabad blasts: Police
/ref> In a verdict given by Ahmedabad special court in February 2022, of the 77 accused, 28 were acquitted for lack of evidence, 11 were sentenced to life imprisonment and 38 were sentenced to death.

Bombings

The bombs were planted in

Tiffin carriers Tiffin carriers or dabbas are a kind of lunch box used widely in Asia and the Caribbean for tiffin meals. From India, they spread to Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, where they are now widely used. They ...

on bicycles, a pattern similar to the

13 May 2008 Jaipur bombings The Jaipur bombings were a series of nine synchronized bomb blasts that took place on 13 May 2008 within a span of fifteen minutes at locations in Jaipur, the capital city of the Indian state of Rajasthan, and a tourist destination. Many of the blasts targeted the city bus service of AMTS (

Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service Amdavad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) runs the public bus service in the city of Ahmedabad in India.The responsibility of the administration of AMTS comes under the Amdavad Municipal Corporation History Private operators There existed th ...

), ripping apart portions of the vehicles. Two blasts took place inside the premises of two hospitals, about 40 minutes after the initial series of blasts. One of the blasts in the hospitals occurred when injured victims of the initial series of blasts were being admitted there. Another bomb was found and defused on the following day in the Hatkeshwar area. Two live bombs were also retrieved from

Maninagar Maninagar is an area of Ahmedabad city, Gujarat, India. It is located in the southern part of the city and an important area of the city. It can be divided into two regions - Maninagar East and Maninagar West, separated by the Maninagar Railw ...

, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's constituency. Gujarat police recovered and defused two more bombs in Surat, another major city in Gujarat, a day after the Ahmedabad blasts. Two cars filled with materials required to make explosives, including detonators, were also found, one of them parked on a roadside near a hospital, and the other in the outskirts of Surat.

Bombing Locations

*Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, trauma center *Khadia *Raipur *Sarangpur *L.G. Hospital, Maninagar *Maninagar *Hatkeshwar Circle *Bapunagar *Thakkarbapa Nagar *Jawahar Chowk *Govindwadi *Isanpur *Narol *Sarkhej

Warning of attacks through e-mail

Several news agencies reported receiving a 14-page e-mail five minutes before the explosions with the subject line: "Await 5 minutes for the revenge of Gujarat", apparently referring to the

2002 Gujarat violence The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hin ...

which took place after the

Godhra train burning The Godhra train burning occurred on the morning of 27 February 2002, in which 59 Hindu pilgrims and '' karsevaks'' returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire inside the Sabarmati Express train near the Godhra railway station in the Indian ...

incident. The e-mail was sent by the Islamic extremist group known as

on 26 July at around 6:41pm IST. The contents of the

e-mail Electronic mail (email or e-mail) is a method of exchanging messages ("mail") between people using electronic devices. Email was thus conceived as the electronic (digital) version of, or counterpart to, mail, at a time when "mail" meant ...

warned of attacks in 5 minutes: "In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again! Do whatever you can, within 5 minutes from now, feel the terror of Death!" The e-mail also contained threats against Chief Minister of Maharashtra,

Vilasrao Deshmukh Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh (26 May 1945 – 14 August 2012) was an Indian politician who served as the 14th Chief Minister of Maharashtra, first term from 18 October 1999 to 16 January 2003 and second term, from 1 November 2004 to 5 D ...

, and his deputy, R.R. Patil, with the claim, "We wonder at your memory. Have you forgotten the evening of 11 July 2006 so quickly and so easily?" Furthermore, the threats went on to warn Indian businessman

Mukesh Ambani Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born 19 April 1957) is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), a Fortune Global 500 company and India's most valuable company by market value. Ac ...

Reliance Industries Reliance Industries Limited is an Indian multinational conglomerate company, headquartered in Mumbai. It has diverse businesses including energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. Relian ...

to "think-twice" before "usurping and building a citadel on a land in Mumbai that belongs to the Waqf board...lest it turns into horrifying memories for you which you will never ever forget". The e-mail also reportedly threatened several

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" ...

actors, asking them to stop acting. Police reported that they questioned U.S. national Ken Haywood from whose IP address the threatening email was sent. Haywood's residence in the Sanpada area of

Navi Mumbai Navi Mumbai (), is a planned city situated on the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, located in the Konkan division of Maharashtra state, on the mainland of India. Navi Mumbai is part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The city ...

was raided by ATS officials on 27 July after the IP address from which a threatening email was sent minutes before the Ahmedabad serial blasts was found to be his.

Casualties

56 people were killed by the bombing and over 200 people were injured. Initially, Prime Minister

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indir ...

sanctioned an

ex gratia (; also spelled ''ex-gratia'') is Latin for "by favour", and is most often used in a legal context. When something has been done ''ex gratia'', it has been done voluntarily, out of kindness or grace. In law, an ''ex gratia payment'' is a payme ...

payment of ₹ 100,000 (US$2,300) to the next of kin of the dead. However upon visiting Ahmedabad, he raised the ex gratia figure to ₹ 350,000 (US$8,050). In addition, he also announced a compensation of ₹ 50,000 (US$1,200) for those injured in the blasts. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi announced a compensation of Rs 500,000 (US$11,500) to each victim of the bomb blasts.

Investigations

Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami has claimed the responsibility of the blasts. The email mentioned that "the innocent Muslims arrested in the (Mumbai), bomb blast case are being tried for years and years." Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta said the Centre dispatched one team of bomb experts and decided to convene a meeting of top officials of state governments to discuss the situation arising out of the recent explosions. According to the ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest se ...

'' the intelligence community believes that both blasts of Bangalore and Ahmedabad were executed by a network of Wahabi fundamentalists masquerading as Indian Mujahideen.

Leads in the case

* Several TV channels stated that they had received an e-mail from a terror outfit called Indian Mujahideen claiming responsibility for the terror attacks. This e-mail has been traced to a locality in

. This outfit in the past claimed responsibility for the Jaipur bombings on 13 May 2008. * The police investigation has centered around the claims made in two phone calls. * A doctor who was visiting one of the hospitals where one of the blasts occurred has claimed to have overheard a person talking on his cellphone saying, "Bangalore was a failure, however Ahmedabad will be successful and we will celebrate if God wishes.".I heard the culprit speaking on phone, claims witness
Zee News A sketch of this person, shown alongside, was released. The doctor described the suspected culprit as being around "30–34 years old; wearing a pink shirt; clean shaven; and seemingly an educated person." * A person has claimed to have received two suspicious phone calls at around 8:00pm IST. In one of the phone calls, it is reported that the caller said, "Ejaz, kaam ho gaya hai?", which translates to "Ejaz, has the job been done?" * Two cars, both stolen Maruti Wagon R models with vehicle license plates reading "GJ-6-CD 3569" and "GJ-5-CD 2908" were also found in

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is ...

. One of the cars had four live bombs which were defused. In addition, a wooden box with white powder, wires, a battery and shrapnel was also found near Nupur hospital."Two cars with explosives found in Surat".
. Retrieved 30 July 2008. The cars used for bombings in Ahmedabad and those that were defused in Surat were eventually traced to Navi Mumbai, from where they had been stolen on 7 and 15 July 2008. Investigations revealed that they were subsequently laden with explosives in

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

, before being brought to Ahmedabad and Surat. * On 30 July 2008, it was reported that the police had found

CCTV Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly ...

footage of the driver of one of the cars used for the bombings. The photo was obtained from a toll booth near

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. It had been earlier established that the bombers had stolen the cars from

before driving it to

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. The car used in the blast at the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital was driven 6 times between Ahmedabad and

between 7 and 24 July. * On 4 August 2008, the

police claimed to have their first breakthrough in the case with the identification of the shop from where the LPG cylinders used for the blasts were bought. The police also claimed that the crates in which the bombs were planted were made from locally purchased wood.

Suspects

* The

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Ly ...

reported on 28 July 2008 that police and intelligence officials had zeroed in on three masterminds behind the blasts. The suspects, Rasool Khan Yakoob Khan Pathan ''alias'' Rasool 'Party', Sohail Khan and Mufti Sufiyan, are suspected to be key operatives of either the

Lashkar-e-Toiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

(LeT) or the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). They are also believed to have got to Pakistan after the 2002 Gujarat riots. * On 29 July 2008, the police detained three suspects, Abdul Qadir, Hasil Mohammad and Hussain Ibrahim, near Limdi on Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway in

Surendranagar district Surendranagar is an administrative district in Saurashtra region of Gujarat state in India. It has a population of approximately 1.7 million people. Surendranagar city, along with the twin city of Wadhwan, has a total of 400,000 inhabitants, ...

, while they were leaving Ahmedabad soon after the blasts * On 30 July 2008, it was reported on Rediff that the Intelligence Bureau (IB) believed two men, Rasool Khan Parti and Mohammad Sufiya Ahmed Patangiya, who are currently living at Farahan Arcade Gulistan in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...

were the masterminds behind both the Ahmedabad and the 2008 Bangalore serial blasts. They were previously residents of

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River, in the northern part of Southern Indi ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, and are members of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami. The Gujarat Police has been looking for them in connection to the murder of former Gujarat state minister

Haren Pandya Haren Pandya was the Home Minister of Gujarat in India. He was allegedly murdered in 2003 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, when he was sitting in his car (the place of his murder is contentious), after a morning walk in the Law Garden area in Ahmedabad. ...

. * On 16 August 2008, the Gujarat Police announced that they had solved the case, making it the fastest terrorism case to be solved in recent years. According to the Gujarat Director General of Police P.C.Pande, Mufti Abu Bashir was the mastermind behind the blasts, and up to 10 of his accomplices had been arrested. * On 20 November 2008, the Gujarat Police claimed that Amir Raza Khan, a HuJI operative from

Kolkatta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commerci ...

now in Pakistan, was also the mastermind of the blasts. In a

chargesheet In policing on the Indian subcontinent, a chargesheet is prepared after First Information Reports (FIRs), and charges an individual for (some or all of) the crimes specified in those FIR(s). Once the charge sheet has been submitted to a court ...

filed by the Crime Branch, SIMI members Safdar Nagori, Hafez Hussain, Sibli Abdul Karim, Kamruddin Nagori, Amil Parvez and Mufti Abu Basher planned the attack and asked Abdus Subhan alias Tauqeer and Qayamuddin Kapadia for executing the blasts. SIMI members organised terror training camps in Waghamon in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

and

Halol Halol is a city and a municipality (tehsil) in Panchmahal district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located in western India, it has an average elevation of 499 metres (1637 feet). Halol is a major manufacturing hub of Western India, ...

near

. Qayamuddin and Tauqeer then held a meeting with their local contacts in the city for arrangements of logistics and support to carry out the conspiracy. The local contacts were those who were associated with SIMI before it was banned in 2001 by the Central Government.

Arrests

* Maulana Abdul Halim, a suspected Students Islamic Movement of India activist, was arrested from Dani Limda in the heart of Ahmedabad on 27 July 2008. He was alleged to be involved in instigating the Muslim youth after the 2002 Gujarat violence and sending them to

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

for terror training. Charges have also been laid on him for sending 33 youths for terror training to Pakistan in 2003. After his arrest, he was remanded to a 14-day police custody by the Metropolitan

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

in Ahmedabad. * On 15 August, the Gujarat police arrested Mufti Abu Bashir, and nine others, in connection to the bombings. Bashir belongs to Binapara village in

Azamgarh Azamgarh is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the headquarters of Azamgarh division, which consists of Ballia, Mau and Azamgarh districts. Azamgarh is situated on the bank of Tamsa River (Tons). It is located east of the s ...

district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, and was believed to be a SIMI activist. * On 24 October, a SIMI activist, Abdul Razik Mansuri, a resident of Gomtipur area Nagda district,

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the second ...

, had been arrested along with Harun Rashid, a Gujrat residence and send to Gujarat for questioning. The Joint Commissioner of Police for the crime branch, Ashish Bhatia, said: "He was arrested from the Nagda district in Madhya Pradesh by our team. He was there staying with some of his relative. We have brought him to Ahmedabad for interrogation." He added that Mansuri was likely to be produced before a court in

to be remanded to judicial custody. * On 11 November, the Madhya Pradesh Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) arrested Qayamuddin Kapadia, a top-ranking member of SIMI and a key conspirator and executor of the attack, In

Ujjain Ujjain (, Hindustani pronunciation: �d͡ːʒɛːn is a city in Ujjain district of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. It is the fifth-largest city in Madhya Pradesh by population and is the administrative centre of Ujjain district and Uj ...

. Police claimed that Kapadia admitted his involvement in the Ahmedabad blasts, and that he, along with Abdul Subhan Qureshi ''alias'' Tauqeer of Mumbai and Riaz Bhatkal of Karnataka, collaborated with the SIMI cell led by Atif to carry out the Delhi blasts. Atif was later killed in an encounter with

special cell Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specia ...

Delhi Police The Delhi Police (DP) is the law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). Delhi Police comes under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India. In 2015, sanctioned strength of Delhi ...

. * On 13 November, Rafiuddin Kapadia, the brother of the key accused, Qayamuddin Kapadia, was arrested by the city police of Ahmedabad. His arrest took the toll of the total held by the police to 43. The Joint Commissioner of Police, Ashish Bhatia, who is heading the probe in the serial blasts case, said: "We have arrested Rafiuddin Kapadia, brother of Qayamuddin. He was present at the SIMI training camp in Halol near Vadodara. He originally hails from Vadodara and was arrested today from Ahmedabad by the crime branch officials." * On 26 March 2012, Maharashtra ATS arrested one blast suspect Mohammed Abrar Babu Khan alias Abrar Shaikh in an encounter in Sambhajinagar. Khaleel Qureshi was killed and Mohammed Shakeer was wounded in the encounter. All are alleged to be members of terrorist group

. A police constable was also injured during the firing. * On 19 June 2016, Gujarat

Anti-Terrorism Squad Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) is a special police force in several states of India including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal. In Maharashtra, it is headed by senior of the Indian Police Ser ...

, arrested Nasir Rangrez from

Belgaum Belgaum ( ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Belagavi ...

Legal case

Controversy arose in the court case of the 26 accused as the state was alleged to have suppressed the legal rights of the accused. On 23 October lawyers of the accused walked out in protest against the stand taken by the Metropolitan Magistrate. The lawyers wanted to meet the accused alone, however, they had moved an application stating that police did not allow them to meet their clients alone and that the Court should direct the police not to remain present while they were talking to the accused. The Metropolitan Magistrate countered that it was not possible as police had to be with the accused. He is said to have hinted at collusion between the lawyers and the accused, causing a walk out by the accused's lawyers. The next day, in two different cases, the designated Metropolitan Court remanded all the 26 accused to police custody until 31 October. As per the legal rules police have to file a chargesheet in any case before 90 days of the first arrest of the case. However, on 11 November, about three and half months after blasts and the late July arrest, the Gujarat police filed a chargesheet, pertaining to the city civil hospital blast and L G hospital blast case, in a court naming 26 people, all with alleged linked to SIMI, as accuseds in the case. A 2,000-page chargesheet was filed in the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate, G M Patel. The accused included SIMI activists Mufti Abu Basher, Safdar Nagori and Sajid Mansuri. The chargesheet also listed the names of 50 absconders, and that police had so far examined 511 potential witnesses.

Similarities

Similarities between the Bangalore and Ahmedabad bombings were investigated, where the former suffered from eight blasts and the latter 21. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Prakash Jaiswal told reporters in

Kanpur Kanpur or Cawnpore ( /kɑːnˈpʊər/ pronunciation (help· info)) is an industrial city in the central-western part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Founded in 1207, Kanpur became one of the most important commercial and military stations ...

that the similarities between this and the Bangalore blasts was that both "blasts were of low intensity" and were planted in crowded areas. Furthermore, both states – Karnataka and Gujarat – have BJP led governments.

Further threats

The threat of terror continued even after

blasts. The

police discovered an active bomb which was set to detonate at 12:00am IST in Hatkeshwar,

. A bomb squad was quick to respond and successfully managed to defuse the bomb in front of a large crowd, which rose to jubilation and applause upon bomb's defusion.

Kerala

A phone call from Pakistan to a

journalist claimed there would be more blasts in Kerala on Sunday. Kerala police chief Raman Srivastava said: "I have been informed by the DGP of Karnataka about the terror threat to Kerala. We spoke to the journalist concerned, who said he had received two calls today – one at 1 pm and another at 3:30 pm."

Surat

On the following Monday, just days after the

blasts, another bomb was found in Varachha area of Surat.Another live bomb defused in Surat
Times of India The bomb was placed near an electricity transmitter and contained a packet 700–800 grams of ammonium nitrate, a packet of shrapnel, two detonators, one battery, and a circuit. This was found after the two car bombs that were discovered immediately after Ahmedabad attacks. On Tuesday, 29 July, eighteen bombs were found in

, and were subsequently defused. They were found mainly in the

diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, b ...

-processing and residential areas of Surat, within a span of just four hours. According to the

, a top government official believed that the planting of so many "unexploded" bombs was probably a means to divert attention of the police from the ongoing blast probe. After Gujarat Chief Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

visited the city another bomb was found and defused by a bomb disposal squad. All in all, 23 bombs were found in three days in

Forensic Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

investigations revealed that the bombs had not exploded because the circuits had been wrongly assembled. The police were not sure whether that was on purpose or a way to estimate the reaction time of the

bomb squad Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the milit ...

, for planning future attacks.

Rajasthan

Three bombs were detected on the road in

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

district, near

Marwar Junction Marwar Junction is a census town and tehsil headquarter in Pali district in the Indian state of Rajasthan. This is an important railway junction on Ahemdabad - Delhi mainline in Pali district . Ajmer-Ahmedabad meter gauge opened in 1881 under Ra ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...

. The bombs, put in half-litre oil containers, were planted on the Marwar-Ranawas Road at gap of one km and were spotted by onlookers. The box carried a bundle of fuse wire, 30–40 marbles, 8 iron plates, and detonator. There was no timer nor any electronic device attached to the explosives. The bombs were defused by the bomb squad.

Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, Sheikh Abdul Ghaffoor, 39, was arrested with an alleged plan of carrying out bombings on Independence Day, 15 August 2008."Terror module busted in Tamil Nadu, 1 held".
. Retrieved 30 July 2008. The plot included bombing the state capital

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

along with three other cities in Tamil Nadu and at least six trains.

Meenakshi Amman Temple Arulmigu Meenakshi Sundaraswarar Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the southern bank of the Vaigai River in the temple city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, ...

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration i ...

is believed to be on top of the list for such terror attack. The man was detained with a large cache of explosives and two timer devices. Apparently, it is believed that the plot was revealed by an arrested leader, P Ali Abdullah, of a banned organisation, who has been serving sentences in an Indian jail since 2003.

Chennai city police The Greater Chennai Police, a division of the Tamil Nadu Police, is the law enforcement agency for the city of Chennai in India and the surrounding area. The city police force is headed by a Commissioner of Police and the administrative contr ...

later on 1 August 2008 announced that the arrests were not linked with either the Ahmedabad or Bangalore blasts.

Kolkata

An E-Mail was sent to

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

on 29 July 2008 to bomb 8 different locations in Kolkata. Subsequently, high alert was placed in Kolkata but the E-mail turned out to be a hoax.

New Delhi

Another E-mail was sent to the Japanese Embassy in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Hous ...

on 30 July 2008 to bomb several locations in Delhi. The mail was soon forwarded to the Delhi Police from the Japanese Embassy and the city was placed under a Red Alert. The E-Mail threatened to bomb

Sarojini Nagar Sarojini Nagar is a neighbourhood in South West Delhi district of Delhi, India. It was one of the sites of the 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings. It is close to Safdarjung Airport, starting 2010, it is serviced by the Sarojini Nagar metro stat ...

which was a target in the October 2005 bombings. Further to these threats Japan closed its embassy in New Delhi on 31 July 2008 and also issue warning to its citizens living in India to avoid crowded places like markets and train stations. Nevertheless, the initial examination of a youth arrested for sending emails to the Japanese embassy indicated that he might suffer from some mental problems. Delhi police revealed that the youth who sent the email was frustrated of a failed visa application to the embassy and the email threat was a hoax.

Criticism

In criticizing the central government Ajai Sahni,

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of the Institute for Conflict Management said "India's police to population ratio is one of the lowest in the world, barring the poorer African countries. There is a high deficit of personnel in intelligence gathering. The IB has barely 3,500 field officers. We need to address these shortcomings." Security expert Prakash Singh added "they (terrorists) have no fear of being detected, arrested or prosecuted." PR Chari, a research professor at the Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, said "the blasts were a demonstration of their (terrorists) capabilities and a terse reminder of the state's helplessness." BJP president

Rajnath Singh Rajnath Singh (; born 10 July 1951) is an Indian politician serving as the Defence Minister of India. He is currently the Deputy Leader of the House Lok Sabha. He is the former President of Bharatiya Janata Party. He has previously served as ...

also blamed the UPA government for its "soft approach" to terrorism that has allowed terrorists to grow bolder. He also took the government to task for repealing POTA and for "sleeping over the anti-terror laws like GUJCOCA (an anti-terror law adopted by the Gujarat Assembly)". Gujarat

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

chief Siddharth Patel said: "'The Gujarat government has failed miserably on the law and order front." Adding that the terror attack pointed to the "total failure' of the state's intelligence machinery."

Sushma Swaraj Sushma Swaraj () (''née'' Sharma; 14 February 1952 – 6 August 2019) was an Indian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. She is only ...

, a senior leader of the BJP, at a press conference in Delhi, claimed the ruling UPA government had a conspiratorial hand in the blasts to divert attention from the allegations of bribery as well as to gain

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

votes.

called her comments as "scandalous" and "outrageous remarks". The Congress party's spokesman, Shakeel Ahmed said that Sushma Swaraj should be "tried for treason" and her comments have "given a clean chit to terrorists and anti-national, disruptive forces both within and outside India". Later on 31 July 2008, BJP's spokesperson, Prakash Javdekar, clarified that the allegation of conspiracy made by Sushma Swaraj was her personal view and to the contrary the party viewed the attacks not as a conspiracy of the Congress party but as "an attack on the nation". Although Sushma Swaraj's comments were critically commented by some media and her own party, T. K. Arun, a columnist of

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bu ...

suggested that investigations should also look into her point that some of the blasts occurred in Muslim locals of Ahmedabad and "''that a large share of those getting slaughtered by the terrorists are Muslims''". The US national to whom the suspicious e-mail was traced escaped from India even after a lookout notice was issued.

Reaction

Hindu–Muslim Unity

It is widely believed that the attacks were carried out to bring about the levels of unrest Gujarat had seen after the Godhra train burning."Blasts aimed at destroying social fabric: PM".
''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest s ...

''. Retrieved 30 July 2008. It is believed that by targeting communally sensitive areas such as Sarkhej, Muslims attackers wanted to provoke and re-ignite communal disharmony and riots. However, the people of Gujarat stood tall in unity against such violence. Peaceful demonstrations held across Gujarat by both Hindus and Muslims called attacks an act of cowardice. Such demonstrations of unity were also held in Delhi and Bhopal where Hindus and Muslims held candlelight

vigil A vigil, from the Latin ''vigilia'' meaning ''wakefulness'' ( Greek: ''pannychis'', or ''agrypnia'' ), is a period of purposeful sleeplessness, an occasion for devotional watching, or an observance. The Italian word ''vigilia'' has become gener ...

s. Upon his visit to the region, PM Singh praised Gujarat's unity saying "I commend the people of Gujarat for the resilience they have shown. These terrorist acts are aimed at destroying our social fabric, undermining communal harmony and demoralising our people". President

Pratibha Patil Prathibha DeviSingh Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the 12th president of India spanning from 2007 to 2012. She is the first woman to become the president of India. A member of the Indian National ...

, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice-president

Hamid Ansari Hamid refers to two different but related Arabic given names, both of which come from the Arabic triconsonantal root of Ḥ-M-D (ِِح-م-د): # (Arabic: حَامِد ''ḥāmid'') also spelled Haamed, Hamid or Hamed, and in Turkish Hamit; i ...

, Chief Minister

, all condemned the blasts and appealed for calm. Minister of State for Home Affairs Shakeel Ahmed expressed surprise and shock at the successive attacks. Home Minister

Shivraj Patil Shivraj Vishwanath Patil (born 12 October 1935) is an Indian politician who was the Minister of Home Affairs of India, from 2004 to 2008 and 10th Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 1991 to 1996. He was Governor of the state of Punjab and Administra ...

said: "we should assess the situation correctly and try to help the people, who have suffered and plan to see that these things do not happen afterwards.""Political reactions to Ahmedabad blasts".
Accessed 30 July 2008. Opposition

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the List of ruling p ...

leader

L. K. Advani Lal Krishna Advani (born 8 November 1927) is an Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. Advani is one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a longtime memb ...

condemned the blasts, and demanded that both Gujarat and Rajasthan should be allowed to go for their own anti-terror legislation. The

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is a national level political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), al ...

questioned intelligence agencies failure to be alert to the blast conspiracy, and urged the state Congress to ask the UPA to approve GUJCOC act. The

Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is ...

announced it planned a nationwide anti-jehadi movement from 28 July, and urged the government to act against terrorism "before it is late."

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...

general secretary

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

called for the revival of special act like POTA to "effectively counter terrorists and extremist outfits". A host of others who condemned the blasts included Head of the congress party

Sonia Gandhi Sonia Gandhi (''née'' Maino; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest serving president of the Indian National Congress, a social democratic political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independen ...

, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Prakash Jaiswal,

CPI M The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (abbreviated as CPI(M)/CPIM/CPM) is a Marxist–Leninist communist political party in India. It is the largest communist party of India in terms of membership and electoral seats and one of the nat ...

,"CPM slams serial blasts in Ahmedabad".
''Sify news''. Retrieved 30 July 2008. the

All India Muslim Forum All India Muslim Forum is a Muslim political party in India. It is a Registered Unrecognised Party by the Election Commission of India. The forum has collaboration with Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. The President is S ...

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (born 13 May 1956) is an Indian Modern yoga gurus, yoga guru, a spiritual leader. He is frequently referred to as Sri, Sri Sri (honorific), Guru ji, or Gurudev. From around the mid 1970s, he worked as an Apprenticeship, apprentic ...

, Sanchetna, Sahrwaru, Safar, AMWA, Muslim Majlise Mushavirat, Sarkhej Muslim Welfare Organisation, Ahmedabad Muslim Welfare Society, Sirat Committee, Aman Samuday, Anhad, Swabhiman Andolan, Lok Kala Manch, Samarpan, Sarvoday Sanskrutik Manch, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Bharatiya Moolnivasi Janjagran Abhiyan, and Action Aid (Gujarat).

International

;Countries *:

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Yousuf Raza Gillani Yusuf Raza Gilani (Urdu: ; born 9 June 1952), is a Pakistani politician who served as 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 25 March 2008, until his retroactive #Disqualification and ouster, disqualification and ouster by the Supreme Court of P ...

condemned the bomb attacks in Bangalore and Ahmedabad, describing them as "acts of senseless violence against innocent persons". The

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

released a statement saying, "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani has strongly condemned the acts of terrorist violence in the Indian cities of Ahmedabad and Bangalore and expressed deep sympathies with the bereaved families and the victims of these dastardly acts of senseless violence against innocent persons." *: The US embassy released a statement "The US condemns the vicious terror attacks in Bangalore on Friday and Ahmedabad on Saturday" and extended condolences to the families of the bereaved.US, Pak condemn serial blasts
India Today Group Online *: Sri Lankan President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

condemned the serial blasts in a statement saying "I unreservedly condemn the cowardly terrorist attacks in Ahmedabad, India, yesterday, killing and injuring a large number of persons, as well as the terrorist attacks in Bangalore the previous day". The Executive President said "These wanton acts of terror by the forces are ranged against democracy...Sri Lanka being a country gravely affected by the scourge of terrorism for more than two decades, we understand well how the manipulators of terror seek to destroy harmonious relations among communities and the democratic traditions that prevail in our societies...My Government and I share the determination and commitment of the Government and people of India not to yield to this sustained threat of terror from those who seek to achieve their ends by inflicting maximum damage to the lives and limbs of civilians, disrupting their day to day lives and society at large." *: Afghan President

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

called for a "collective struggle against terrorism which threatens the stability of the region. Terrorism is a serious threat against the international community and this evil phenomenon must be fought collectively." * France: French President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

wrote a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and offered to further strengthen cooperation in the battle against terrorism. He condemned the blasts saying they were "blind, cowardly and inhuman". In his letter he said, "On this occasion, I wish to assure you of the full solidarity of the 27 member-states of the EU and their determination to fight alongside the Indian government to eradicate the scourge of terrorism" ;Unions *:

Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Ministe ...

has condemned in the "strongest terms" the series of bombings in

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

and Ahmedabad and stressed that no cause or grievance can justify terrorist acts. *:

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

condemned the attack in a statement saying "The Presidency of the Council of European Union presents its deepest condolences to India, its government and its people, as well as to the victims and their families".Int`l community says terror attacks in India "unacceptable"
Zee News

Trial and verdict

The trial merged 35 separated cases as a single case and was heard in a special court of Judge A. R. Patel in Ahmedabad. The trial began in 2009 and lasted for about 13 years. The hearing was concluded in September 2021. On 8 February 2022 the verdict was delivered pronouncing 28 accused acquitted due to lack of acceptable evidence while 49 as convicted. The sentences were provided on 18 February 2022, including 38 death sentences and 11 life imprisonments.

External links

Ahmedabad Blasts in pictures

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmedabad Bombings 21st-century mass murder in India Terrorist incidents in India in 2008 Religiously motivated violence in India Indian Mujahideen attacks History of Ahmedabad Mass murder in 2008 Improvised explosive device bombings in India Islamic terrorism in India Islamic terrorist incidents in 2008 History of Gujarat (1947–present) Crime in Gujarat 2008 murders in India Explosions in 2008 July 2008 events in India