TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
12 held guilty for Mumbai 2006 devastating serial blasts
In this photograph taken on July 11, 2006, Indian railway workers and officials clear debris of the first class compartment of a local train which was ripped open by a bomb blast at Khar Mumbai
Change Size
In this photograph taken on July 11, 2006, Indian railway workers and officials clear debris of the first class compartment of a local train which was ripped open by a bomb blast at Khar Mumbai. (AFP/Sebastian D'Souza) (AFP/Sebastian D'Souza)
I
span class="inline inline-center">In this photograph taken on July 11, 2006, Indian railway workers and officials clear debris of the first class compartment of a local train which was ripped open by a bomb blast at Khar Mumbai. (AFP/Sebastian D'Souza)
A special MCOCA ( Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act) court has held 12 of 13 accused guilty of carrying out the 2006 Mumbai serial bomb blasts that killed 188 people. One of the accused was acquitted for lack of evidence.
The seven synchronized explosions that took place within a span of 11 minutes on the first class coaches of several suburban trains on the rain-soaked evening of 11 July 2006 killed 188 commuters and injured more than 800 others. One of the injured victims, Pasrag Sawant who had been in coma for seven years died in July this year, taking the death toll to 189.
Designated judge Yatin D Shinde acquitted the eighth accused Abdul Waheed Shaikh for want of evidence. The judge said on Friday he would deliver the quantum of punishment for each of the 12 convicts on Monday after hearing the submissions of both prosecution and defence.
Five of the accused were held guilty of murder, which could attract the death penalty.
In the 10,000-page charge sheet filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in June 2007, the accused were charged under various sections of MCOCA, Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Explosives Act, Damage to Public Property Act and Railway Act.
The chief prosecutor in the case, Raja Thakre, told reporters that those convicted under sections 302 and 311 of the IPC face life imprisonment or death sentence as maximum punishment.
He said he would be praying for the maximum punishment on Mondat. "It is not about me being happy with the verdict. I want the people at large to be happy because our main concern was the death of so many innocent commuters," he said.
The prosecution's case was that the conspirators had Lashkar-e- Taiyyaba connections and were trained by Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence across the border.
Seven tight-packed deviced with a lethal mix of RDX, ammonium nitrate and sharp nails were detonated with remote controls. The attackers had chosen the evening rush hour for the terror attacks to kill as many commuters as possible. Their main target was Gujarati businessmen who travel home in groups.
Shinde said the main conspirators in these blasts were Mohammed Faisal Shaikh, Kamal Ahmed Ansari and Asif Khan aka Junaid.
Faisal was trained in making and triggering f explosive devices. They operated under the LeT commander Azam Cheema, who with 14 others has been declared absconders in the case.
Other accused found guilty are Ehtesham Siddiqui, Mohammed Majid Shafi, Shaikh Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Ansari, Sohail Mohammed Shaikh, Zamir Shaikh and Naved Hussain.
Among the absconders are some Pakistan nationals, said the then ATS chief KP Raghuvanshi.
The day-to-day trial that began in June 2007 was stayed by the Supreme Court in February 2008 following objection raised against the inclusion of the phrase " promoting insurgency" in the MCOCA.
The Supreme Court lifted the stay in April 2010 and directed the trial court to continue the proceedings. Judge Shinde finished the trial on Aug 19, 2014 and took more than 12 months to deliver his judgment. (k)(++++)
