Mcoca Court Today Convicted 12 Accused Out Of 13 In 2006 Mumbai Train

[JANASENA]

 

2006 Mumbai train blasts verdict: Commuters board coach 864A, which was destroyed in the 7/11 blasts last year, at Churchgate station in Mumbai

Nine years after the serial bomb blast across suburban trains, a special court in Mumbai pronounced 12 accused guilty in the case on Friday. Accused number 8 Abdul Wahid Din Mohammed Shaikh was acquitted. The quantum of charges will be announced on Monday.

Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakre said he is praying for strictest punishment for the convicted.

“It is not about me being happy with the verdict. I want that people at large should be happy because we are concerned with the death of so many innocent person by terror which has shaken the metropolis,” he said.

The convicted are Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari, Dr Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Kutubuddin Sidduqui, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Sohail Mehmood Shaikh, Zameer Ahmed Latuir Rehman Shaikh, Naveed Hussain Khan Rasheed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan.

A series of bombs had ripped across seven western suburban coaches killing 189 commuters and injuring 824 on July 11, 2006.

With the blast verdict on September 11, Special Judge Y D Shinde, who has been conducting the trial in the MCOCA court at the City Civil and Sessions Court, decided the fate of the 13 arrested accused booked under various stringent charges, including conspiracy and waging war against nation. The court informed the lawyers, public prosecutor and the jail authorities about the verdict date Thursday afternoon, with all the accused asked to remain present.

The Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested the accused between July 20, 2006 and October 3, 2006, but ran into controversy in November the same year when the accused gave a written submission to court that their confessions were coerced. The chargesheet has 30 accused, with 13 identified as Pakistani nationals, and 17 as Indians. Four of the 17 Indians are yet to be arrested.

KP Raghuvanshi, former ATS chief who probed the case in 2006 blast case, said it was difficult to procure clues in the case.

“In any blasts, be it the London tube bombing, 1993 blasts, Bali bombing, ot any other big blast there was always an unexploded bomb, which helped as a lead. Or even some clue that was left behind. In this blast, there was no clue left, it was a crowded scene, it was raining, it was getting dark as it was evening, There was no clue. The probing teams had to go deeper and work harder to get this case to its logical end,” he said.

He also talked about the plot and the Pakistani angle to the bomb blast case.

“The plot goes back to Azam Cheema who masterminded the bombing. In fact, he ensured that he sent three sets of people through three different routes to Mumbai to execute the bombing. There are other links to, with people who have been chargesheeted. of those who are still wanted are a few Pakistani national,” said Raghuvanshi.

The police, meanwhile, had the city on a state of ‘general alert’ on Friday. Police sources said that a heavy security cordon was laid down around the court and would remain in place till evening.

Everywhere else, bandobast was deployed and patrolling points were set up at sensitive locations across the city.

Policemen from Senior Police Inspector upwards were in touch with local religious and community leaders all over the city to get real time updates about the mood among the people.