2 years on, Ahmedabad blasts case trial remains stalled

Two years after the July 26 serial blasts which claimed as many as 56 lives in the city in 2008, trial in the blast cases is at a standstill following the apex court staying the trial. Earlier, Ahmedabad serial blast and Surat bomb planting cases were clubbed by a city court.

Sources close to the development said that charges were about to be framed in these cases when the apex court stayed the matter. Charges were about to be framed against 66 accused in the cases. The accused, however, sought transfer of the cases, alleging bias by the police and judicial machinery. The apex court then stayed proceedings in the matter till final hearing.

The chargesheet in the LG and Civil hospital blasts was filed against 26 accused. The chargesheet also listed the names of 50 absconders. The list also contained the names of Touqeer, Riyaz Batkal, Iqbal Batkal, Qayamuddin, Mujib Batkal, Alam Zeb Afridi and Mehboob, all from Ujjain, as absconders. The accused against whom the chargesheet had been filed included Abu Bashir - accused of masterminding the serial bomb blasts, Jahid Sheikh, Imran Sheikh, Sajid Mansuri, Iqbal Sheikh, Shamshuddin Sheikh, Gyasuddin Ansari, Arif Kagzi, Usman Agarbattiwala and Younis Mansuri. The chargesheet also named Safdar Nagori, leader of Simi, Ameel Pervez, Shibly Peedical, Kamruddin Nagori and Mohammed Hafiz as the accused. The Surat crime branch, on the other hand, listed Jahir Patel and Tanvir Pathan as the main accused in the Surat bomb planting cases.