12 convicted for Mumbai train blasts

Rescue workers search for bodies inside the mangled compartment of a blast affected local train at Mahim railway station in Mumbai on July 11, 2006.

Quantum of punishment in 7/11 trial to be pronounced on Monday.

By Nithin Belle

Published: Sat 12 Sep 2015, 12:00 AM

Last updated: Sat 12 Sep 2015, 9:37 AM

A special court here on Friday convicted a dozen of the 13 accused in the Mumbai serial train bomb blasts of July 2006, in which 188 persons were killed and more than 800 injured.
A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court acquitted one of the accused persons, and convicted 12 of them. Five of them were found guilty of the charges of murder, which could attract the death sentence. The court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on Monday.
The accused were tried under the stringent MCOCA and were found guilty under various laws including the Indian Penal Code, the Explosives Act and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. All convicted persons are suspected to have links to the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).
Seven blasts shook local suburban trains during the evening peak hours all within a span of 10 minutes, on July 11, 2006.
The near simultaneous blasts in trains speeding along the western suburban corridor were one of the worst terror attacks in Mumbai. The blasts occurred in the first-class and women's compartments of the trains, which were speeding between Mahim and Bhayander stations.
According to the prosecution, RDX explosives were kept in pressure cookers and placed the trains at Churchgate station just before they were to leave for the suburbs. The police suspected SIMI and banned Pakistan-based terror organisation, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, of masterminding the blasts.
While 13 persons were arrested on charges of transporting and planting the bombs, 17 others - including allegedly some Pakistani nationals - are absconding. Those convicted on Friday include Kamal Ansari, Tanvir Ansari, Mohammed Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Mohammad Shafi, Shaikh Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Ansari, Muzzammil Shaikh, Sohail Shaikh, Zamir Shaikh, Naveed Khan and Asif Khan, most of them in their 30s.
The long-drawn trial ran for eight years and concluded in August 2014.
Nearly 200 witnesses were examined by the prosecution.One of the accused had earlier challenged the provisions of the MCOCA and had got a stay order from the Supreme Court in 2008. However, the apex court lifted the stay two years later.
nithin@khaleejtimes.com