All 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gang rape case surrendered in Godhra sub jail in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district on Sunday night, when the Supreme Court deadline was about to end.

“All the 11 convicts have surrendered before the jail authorities late on Sunday night. They reached the jail before midnight on January 21, which was the deadline fixed for their surrender,” said local crime branch inspector NL Desai.

The top court had on January 8 canceled the immunity granted by the Gujarat government to 11 convicts in the high-profile case, while rapping the state for being “in collusion” with one of the accused and abusing its discretion. It ordered convicts released prematurely on Independence Day in 2022 to return to jail within two weeks.

The apex court had on Friday rejected the plea of ​​the convicts to give them more time to surrender and asked them to do so by Sunday.

The 11 convicts include Bakabhai Vohaniya, Bipin Chandra Joshi, Kesarbhai Vohaniya, Govind Nai, Jaswant Nai, Mitesh Bhatt, Pradeep Mordhiya, Radheshyam Shah, Rajubhai Soni, Ramesh Chandna and Shailesh Bhatt.

Bilkis Bano was 21 years old and five months pregnant when she was gang-raped while trying to escape the terror of communal riots that broke out after the Godhra train burning incident in February 2002. His three-year-old daughter was also among the seven. Killed family members.

In August 15, 2022, 11 convicts, who had spent 14 years in jail as part of life sentences, were released prematurely after the Gujarat government cited their ‘good conduct’ as per its 1992 policy. His exemption application was accepted. Imprisonment.

These 11 people are residents of Singwad and Randhikpur villages of Singwad taluka of Dahod district near Panchmahal.

While quashing the remission order, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Gujarat government did not have the jurisdiction to grant premature release to the convicts as the trial took place in Maharashtra.

Days after the top court order, the convicts had moved the Supreme Court seeking more time to surrender on various grounds such as ill health, impending surgery, son’s marriage and harvesting of ripe crop.

These applications were rejected by the top court on Friday with the observation that the reasons cited had no merit.

(With PTI inputs)