An engineer, a name centre operative and extra… The 12 males now acquitted within the 2006 Mumbai practice blasts

Eleven minutes — that’s all it took to shake India’s monetary capital. On July 11, 2006, seven bombs packed in strain cookers tore via first-class coaches on town’s suburban practice line, turning night commutes into carnage.

The explosions at Mumbai’s Mahim, Bandra, Khar, Jogeshwari, Borivali, Matunga Highway and Mira Highway resulted within the deaths of 188 folks, and injuring one other 700.

Nineteen years later, the Bombay Excessive Court docket has made an unprecedented transfer; Justices Anil S Kilor and Shyam C Chandak have
acquitted all 12 accused within the case — 5 of them had been on loss of life row — noting the proof supplied by the prosecution wasn’t ample to convict them.

What precisely occurred within the 2006 practice blasts? Who’re the 12 accused who’ve been let off and extra importantly, why?

11 minutes of terror unfold in Mumbai

July 11, 2006 was like some other day in Mumbai. Working women and men had completed a protracted day’s work and making their manner house utilizing the lifeline — the suburban trains. Nevertheless, at 6.24 pm, serial explosions occurred alongside the railway line, persevering with till 6.35 pm.

Following the explosions, investigators discovered that the bombs had been hid inside strain cookers full of high-grade RDX and ammonium nitrate. Forensics revealed that the explosives had been designed to rupture steel and flesh. These bombs had been detonated utilizing subtle timers, making certain coordinated chaos.

Within the days following the blast, Maharashtra’s ATS started a long-winding investigation, which included the examination of 250 witnesses, finding out lots of of paperwork, maps and cellphone data. On the finish of all of it, in 2015, a trial courtroom convicted 12 folks within the blasts — the particular courtroom of Maharashtra Management of Organised Crime Act sentenced Kamal Ansari, Faisal Sheikh, Asif Khan, Ehtesham Sidduqui and Naveed Khan to loss of life. Seven different convicts Mohammed Sajid Ansari, Mohammed Ali, Dr Tanveer Ansari, Majid Shafi, Muzzammil Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh and Zamir Shaikh had been sentenced to life imprisonment for being a part of the conspiracy.

From sentenced to acquitted — the 12 males concerned

Following the sentencing, the 12 convicts filed appeals in opposition to their convictions and sentences. And in July 2024, a particular bench was constituted to listen to the matter on a day-to-day foundation.

This resulted in as we speak’s (July 21) improvement; the courtroom acquitting all 12 of the accused after the “the prosecution totally failed in establishing the case past affordable doubts”.

However who’re these 12 males?

1) Kamal Ansari: Hailing from Bihar, the 50-year-old was discovered responsible and sentenced to loss of life within the Mumbai 7/11 blasts. He was additionally of planting the bomb that exploded at Mumbai’s Matunga. Awaiting his loss of life sentence at Nagpur jail, Ansari died in 2021 on account of contracting Covid-19.

2) Faisal Sheikh: In accordance with the ATS investigation, Sheikh was liable for the explosion at Jogeshwari station. Authorities revealed that he was a wished man even earlier than the blasts — he was on the radar since 2004, at a time which he was deported by Saudi Arabia for illegally staying there. After Saudi, he went to Pakistan and reportedly acquired coaching on the Bahawalpur terror camp, which is thought to be the Jaish-e-Mohammed’s terror hub. “I didn’t wish to come to India and wished to remain in Pakistan and show my loyalty with Muslims. However my trainers instructed me that if I wished to show my loyalty with Muslims then I ought to return to India and avenge the killing of Muslims in lots of of riots throughout India,” Faisal has believed to have confessed to the police quickly after getting arrested in 2006 within the blast case.

Apart from laying the bomb, Sheikh additionally despatched youths to that nation for coaching objective. He had additionally attended conspiracy conferences moreover giving shelter to Pakistani nationals. He was additionally sentenced to loss of life on this matter.

3) Asif Khan: Hailing from Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, procured explosive materials and planted a bomb, which exploded at Borivali station. Authorities famous that he was an energetic member of SIMI — the College students Islamic Motion of India, a banned Islamist organisation. After the blasts, Khan fled Mumbai and shifted to Belgaum. He was the final accused to be arrested within the case and later given the loss of life sentence.

4) Ehtesham Sidduqui: On the time of the bombings, Sidduqui, then 30-years-old, was the joint secretary of SIMI, the banned group in India. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur, he got here to Maharashtra to pursue his training in engineering. Nevertheless, he dropped out and shortly enrolled in SIMI.

As for his involvement within the blasts, Siddiqui performed reconnaissance of native trains. He was additionally current when bombs had been made. He planted an explosive in a neighborhood practice, which exploded at Mira Highway station. For this, he was on loss of life row.

5) Naveed Khan: Born in Kuwait, Khan reportedly developed a robust friendship with Faisal Shaikh, who was believed to be liable for funding the whole blasts. Working as a name centre worker on the time of the blasts, the police acknowledged that he was involved with all of the accused and was the one liable for putting the bomb that exploded at Khar. He too, was on loss of life row.

6) Mohammed Sajid Ansari: A resident of Mumbai, he was awarded the life sentence within the Mumbai 7/11 blasts for allegedly procuring timers for the bombs and serving to to assemble them. He additionally reportedly harboured two Pakistani nationals at his residence.

7) Mohammed Ali: A resident of Mumbai’s Shivaji Nagar, he was charged with assembling bombs at his home with the assistance of Pakistanis who had sneaked into India. For this, he was given life imprisonment. In accordance with investigators, he was a part of the SIMI group.

8) Dr Tanveer Ansari: A resident of Mumbai, the physician grew to become a SIMI member and was sentenced to life for his involvement within the Mumbai 7/11 blasts. Authorities word that he acquired arms coaching in Pakistan and likewise surveyed native trains in Mumbai to plan the blasts.

9) Majid Shafi: He organized for transportation of Pakistani nationals to Mumbai through Bangladesh border and again after the blasts.

10) Muzzammil Shaikh: A software program engineer, he acquired arms coaching in Pakistan. He surveyed the native trains that had been to be bombed. He’s the youngest accused within the case. In accordance with an Indian Specific report, two of his brothers — Faisal and Raahil — are believed to be the primary planners of the conspiracy. Raahil was by no means caught.

11) Sohail Shaikh: Sentenced to life, a resident of Pune, he reportedly acquired arms coaching in Pakistan and surveyed the trains to be focused. He additionally acquired hawala cash from absconding accused, Rizwan Dhaware for the execution of the blasts.

12) Zamir Shaikh: A Mumbai resident, he surveyed native trains and helped assemble the bombs. He acquired life imprisonment for his involvement within the blasts.

Causes for courtroom to acquit them

However why precisely did the courtroom acquit these 12 within the Mumbai blasts case? There are a selection of explanation why excessive courtroom bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak overturned the trial courtroom’s judgment.

The excessive courtroom identified severe flaws within the prosecution’s case; they famous that key witnesses within the blasts had been unreliable, identification parades that had been held with authority and confessional statements had been tortured out of the accused.

In its judgment, the excessive courtroom famous, “The defence had raised severe questions concerning the check identification parade. Many witnesses remained silent for unusually lengthy intervals, some over 4 years, after which all of a sudden recognized the accused. That is irregular. Therefore, their conviction is quashed and put aside.

“The confessional statements are discovered to be incomplete and never truthful as some components are a copy-paste of one another. The accused individuals have proved their case that torture was inflicted on the time,” it added.

The excessive courtroom additionally slammed the prosecution for failing to look at essential witnesses. As an illustration, the courtroom discovered that the testimony supplied by the taxi drivers who drove the accused to Churchgate had been “not reliable” and “can’t be made foundation for the conviction”.

It additionally questioned the dealing with of the proof; within the matter of “recoveries like RDX and different explosive materials, the prosecution couldn’t set up that the proof was sacrosanct till it reached the Forensic Science Laboratory,” the bench mentioned.

With inputs from businesses