The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 individuals convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case. Among them were five who had been sentenced to death and seven who were serving life terms. The verdict comes nearly two decades after the coordinated terror attack that killed 187 people and injured more than 820.
A division bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam C Chandak delivered the ruling, stating that the prosecution had failed to establish the guilt of the accused. The court remarked that it was difficult to believe the accused had committed the crime and therefore quashed all convictions.
On the evening of July 11, 2006, seven powerful blasts tore through first-class compartments of Mumbai’s suburban trains on the Western Railway line between 6.23 pm and 6.28 pm. The explosions occurred in moving trains near Matunga, Mahim, Bandra, Khar, Jogeshwari, Borivali and Mira Road.
The devices used were reportedly timed to explode in quick succession to inflict maximum damage. The blasts ripped through the steel coaches and flung bodies and debris across tracks and platforms. At some stations, passengers waiting for trains were also among the victims.
In 2015, a special MCOCA court had sentenced five men — Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari, Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique, Naveed Hussain Khan Rasheed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan Bashir Khan — to death. Seven others received life imprisonment.
The only person acquitted during the 2015 trial was Abdul Wahid Din Mohammad Shaikh. With Monday’s ruling, all 12 remaining accused have now been acquitted.
The prosecution had alleged that the attacks were planned to cause large-scale destruction and fear. However, the High Court found the evidence inadequate to sustain the convictions and dismissed the charges against all the accused.
