Ahmedabad blasts: 3 death-row convicts claim accused-turned-approver deposed against them out of jealousy

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Three death-row convicts in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts case have claimed that an accused-turned-approver deposed against them due to jealousy, grudge and differences over their religious sects.

One the accused in the case, Ayaz Saiyed, had turned approver and his statement was crucial in proving the crime against the other accused.

A special court on Friday sentenced to death 38 members of the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the 2008 Ahmedabad serial blasts which killed 56 people and injured over 200. It also gave life term to another 11 IM convicts in the case.

Convict Shamsuddin Sahabuddin Sheikh, who was among those sentenced to death, told the court that he and Ayaz Saiyed shared the same cell at the crime branch office and the same barrack in the Sabarmati jail here.

In his statement, as mentioned in the court's judgement copy which was made available on Saturday, Sheikh said the two of them got acquainted in the jail and shared with each other their family and educational background. Saiyed came to know about Sheikh's "command over English and his Quaranic Arabic".

According to Sheikh, he used to "beat him (the approver) in every field, either sports or academic competition, which increased his jealousy towards me."

Sheikh said the two of them were from different sects of Islam. Saiyed is a Sunni-Barelvi, who believed in Fateha and Dargah, while Sheikh is Sunni-non Barelvi, who does not believe in it, the convict said in his statement made in English.

"These differences further increased his (Saiyed's) hatred and enmity towards me," Sheikh claimed.

"He (the approver) vented out his prolonged hatred, enmity and jealousy towards me through his false and exaggerated deposition...," the convict said.
Another death-row convict, Mohammad Iqbal Kagzi, also said that Saiyed's deposition against him was totally "false and fake."

"The main thing is that he had a grudge against me during these 10 years of our judicial custody. He assumed that he would never be released from jail, so he became an approver and narrated totally false and fake things to get released at the earliest," the convict claimed.

He said Saiyed had tried to bring a television into the barrack when Kagzi was preparing for an exam conducted by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

When Kagzi asked him not to do so, Saiyed became angry and abusive, the convict claimed. He said since the time the jail authorities decided not to bring the TV set due to security reasons, Saiyed had a grudge against him and assumed that because of Kagzi, the television was not allowed into their barrack.

"I definitely believe that he deposed against me falsely because of his enmity and grudge," he further said. Another death-row convict, Quayyamuddin Kapadia, claimed that Saiyed turned approver due to the threat and enticement received at the hands of crime branch officials.

Kapadia in his statement said he had a discussion with Saiyed before he turned approver, the details of which Kapadia had submitted before the court.
The contents of the said submission were not available in the court's order.

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