All 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case surrendered late Sunday night at Godhra sub jail in Gujarat’s Panchmahal district after the Supreme Court denied to extend the deadline.

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“All 11 convicts have surrendered before jail authorities late Sunday night,” news agency PTI quoted local Crime Branch inspector NL Desai.

The day was marked by uncertainty over the surrender of 11 men convicted for the rape of Bilkis Bano and the murder of 14 people during the riots that blanketed Gujarat in 2002 till late on Sunday night, even as the 14 day deadline set by the Supreme Court is set to end at midnight.

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The 11 men received life imprisonment from a Mumbai court in 2008 but were released in August 2022 by the Gujarat police on remission. The Supreme Court had on January 8, overturned their release and ordered that they return to prison in two weeks from the date of the order.

Earlier this week, the convicts had also petitioned the apex court seeking more time to surrender, citing various reasons. But on January 19, a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said that the court had already granted a two-week surrender period.

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“We gave you enough time to arrange your affairs. The reasons cited by the applicants for postponement of surrender and report back to jail have no merit as these reasons do not prevent them from complying with our direction of January 8,” it said.

Earlier in the day, Godhra superintendent of police (SP) Himanshu Solanki confirmed the deployment of a police force outside the Godhra sub-jail to ensure the enforcement of law and order in anticipation of their surrender. “We received information from jail authorities indicating that the convicted individuals were to surrender on Sunday. As a result, the police force has been arranged to maintain order during the surrender process. As of now, the convicts have not yet surrendered,” Solanki said.