Mumbai, Jul 12 (IANS): Mumbaikars on Monday mourned the victims of the serial blasts in Western Railway suburban trains on July 11, 2006 when 209 persons were killed and over 700 injured.
Top railway officials joined commuters at various railway stations and placed wreaths and observed two minutes silence in memory of the victims on the 10th anniversary of the serial train blasts.
BJP MP Kirit Somaiya also led a commemoration function with the participation of a large number of commuters.
The commemoration was held at Matunga, Mahim, Bandra, Santacruz, Jogeshwari, Borivali and Bhayander where the packed peak hour local trains were hit in 11 minutes between 6.24-6.35 pm.
The bombs made of the deadly RDX and ammonium nitrate were concealed in pressures cookers and had been planted in first-class compartments.
They were exploded with deadly precision, taking the home-bound commuters completely unawares that rainy evening and killing 209.
In terms of casualties, the 7/11 terror attacks were the second biggest after the March 12, 1993 serial blasts which killed 257 and bigger than the 26/11 terror strikes with 166 deaths.
Subsequent investigations threw up names of various organizations including Lashkar-e-Qahhar, the banned SIMI and suspected involvement of the ISI in the blasts.
A total of 12 persons were convicted for their role in the terror incident - said to be a revenge for the the Gujarat riots and Kashmir incidents - after a long-winded trial which ended last year.
In September 2015, Special MCOCA Court Special Judge Y.D. Shinde sentenced to death five accused - Kamal Ansari (Bihar), M. Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh (Mumbai), Ehtesham Siddiqui (Thane), Naved Hussain Khan (Secunderabad) and Asif Khan (Jalgaon) - convicted on planting the bombs.
Those who were given life sentences included Tanveer A. M. Ibrahim Ansari, Majid Mohammed Shafi, Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh, and Zameer A. Latiur Rehman Shaikh.
They were charged with spreading terror, criminal conspiracy, organised crime and murder under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the Explosives Substances Act and the Railways Act.