The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 accused in the 2006 train blasts, including the ones convicted for life imprisonment. It has set aside the prior verdict by a special court that awarded a death sentence to five of the accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. The court has denied the Maharashtra Government's plea that demanded the confirmation of these sentences.
A special division bench of Justice Anil S Kilore and Justice Shyam C Chandak questioned the trustworthiness of the presented prosecution witnesses and the Test Identification Parade (TIP) of the accused during the hearing. The bench has ordered their release if they are not needed to be detained in any other case, along with the execution of Rs. 25,000 bonds each. It observed that the prosecution "utterly failed to establish the offences beyond a reasonable doubt against the accused on each count. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their conviction is quashed and set aside."
On July 11, 2006, between 18:23 and 18:28 hours, seven highly explosive and peak intensity devices bombed the first-class gents' compartments of seven suburban trains in Mumbai. The tragic blast left 187 dead and 829 injured. The terror attack was planned to target the crowded trains moving towards the suburbs between Matunga and Mira Road railway stations.
The powerful explosives ripped off the thick, double-layered steel roofs of the compartments, throwing off passengers, some dead, while some were severely injured. The explosion did not spare even those waiting on the platforms, timed well enough to take place simultaneously and at specific spots.
The prosecution had claimed that the explosions were aimed at creating panic and chaos, causing widespread damage to life and property.
The special court verdict was announced by the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) on 30th September 2015. It sentenced five of the 13 accused - Kamal Ahmed Mohammad Vakil Ansari, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique, Naveed Hussain Khan Rasheed Hussain Khan, and Asif Khan Bashir Khan (Juned or Abdullah) to death.
Seven others, namely, Tanveer Ahmed Mohammad Ibrahim Ansari, Mohamad Majid Mohamad Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammad Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh, and Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh, were sentenced to life imprisonment by MCOCA.
Only Abdul Wahid Din Mohammad Shaikh was acquitted of the charges against him.
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