Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Jul 21: In a landmark judgment, the Bombay High Court on Sunday acquitted all 12 men who were convicted in the 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts case that claimed 189 lives and injured over 800. The verdict comes 19 years after the horrific incident that shook the city.
A division bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak ruled that the prosecution had "utterly failed" to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. “It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime,” the court observed, setting aside the 2015 trial court order which had sentenced five of them to death and the rest to life imprisonment.
The high court ordered their immediate release from jail, provided they are not wanted in any other case.
The coordinated terror attack took place on July 11, 2006, when seven bombs went off within 11 minutes on Mumbai’s suburban trains during peak evening hours. The explosives were planted in pressure cookers and placed inside first-class compartments of local trains departing from Churchgate. The blasts occurred at or near Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivali stations.
In 2015, the special MCOCA court had convicted the 12 accused for planning and executing the bombings. Faisal Sheikh, Asif Khan, Kamal Ansari, Ehtesham Siddiqui, and Naveed Khan were sentenced to death, while seven others received life sentences.
With Sunday’s acquittal, all 12 will now walk free after nearly two decades behind bars.