Charge sheet filed against 2008 Ahmedabad blasts accused

A charge sheet was filed in a local court today against Shoaib Pottanikal, an accused in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case, who was recently arrested from Kerala.

The Crime Branch said in the charge sheet that Pottanikal was behind all the eighteen blasts that rocked the city on July 26, 2008, killing 56 people and injuring 150.

The charge sheet, filed in the court of metropolitan magistrate J A Barot, said Pottanikal conspired with other accused, including the Indian Mujahideen co-founder and the the main accused Yasin Bhatkal, to carry out the blasts.

Pottanikal, who is from Malappuram in Kerala, was charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 120 (B)(conspiracy), apart from offences under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosive Substances Act.

Earlier, the Crime Branch had filed charge sheets against as many as 79 accused in this case.

He was arrested from Kozhikode in May this year.

Seventeen other accused are still at large.

The police learnt about Pottanikal's role after the arrest of Sainuddin and Sarfuddin, who allegedly provided the electronic chips used in the explosive devices.

Yasin Bhatkal had also revealed Pottanikal's role during the questioning, police said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)