MUMBAI, July 21 —Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 individuals previously convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, including five who had been sentenced to death. The blasts had killed 187 people and injured over 820 in one of the worst terror attacks on Mumbai’s local train network.
A division bench comprising Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam C Chandak overturned the 2015 convictions delivered by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court, stating: “The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence their conviction is quashed and set aside.”
The devastating bombings took place during peak hours between 6:23 and 6:28 pm on July 11, 2006, when seven high-intensity explosives tore through first-class compartments on trains running between Matunga and Mira Road. The attackers had targeted densely packed compartments, causing large-scale loss of life and triggering widespread panic.
The blasts were so powerful they ripped through thick steel coach roofs and sides, flinging passengers onto platforms and adjacent tracks. Fatalities occurred not only inside the trains but also among commuters waiting on platforms at Mahim and Borivali stations.
The prosecution had claimed that timer devices were used to ensure simultaneous explosions at Mahim, Bandra, and Mira Road stations, with the final blast striking Borivali by 6:28 pm. The attacks were described as part of a meticulously planned conspiracy to cause terror and mass casualties.
In September 2015, the MCOCA court had sentenced five men—Kamal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari, Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddique, Naveed Hussain Khan Rasheed Hussain Khan, and Asif Khan Bashir Khan (alias Juned/Abdulla)—to death. Seven others received life terms.
Only Abdul Wahid Din Mohammad Shaikh was acquitted at the time.
Monday’s acquittal clears the names of all remaining convicts, effectively ending a nearly two-decade-long legal battle.
