India court sentences 38 to death over lethal 2008 bombings

Ahmedabad: An Indian court Friday sentenced 38 Muslim men to death and ordered life in prison for 11 others for a series of bomb blasts in 2008 that killed more than 50 people in the city of Ahmedabad.

The explosions had badly shaken the western state of Gujarat, where Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 are believed to have killed thousands, mostly Muslims. 

At least 56 people were killed and 246 others injured after 20 explosions ripped through the city on July 26, 2008.

A group called the "Indian Mujahideen" had claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Judge A.R. Patel ordered the punishment after the prosecution pressed for the death sentence describing the incident as a "rarest of rare case" in which innocent lives were lost.

A defence lawyer said they would appeal the verdict in a higher court.

The trial lasted nearly a decade—with more than 1,100 witnesses called to testify. It was dragged out by procedural delays, including a legal battle by four of the accused to retract confessions.

All 77 accused have been held in custody for years, with the exception of one who was bailed after a schizophrenia diagnosis. 

Ahmedabad was the center of deadly 2002 religious riots that saw at least 1,000 people (mostly Muslims) hacked, shot and burned to death. 

The violence was prompted by the death of 59 Hindus in a train fire—a case in which 31 Muslims were convicted for criminal conspiracy and murder.