12 convicted in 7/11 Mumbai train blast case

One of the 13 accused acquiited; Quantum of punishment to be delivered on Monday

A MCOCA court has convicted 12 people in connection with the July 11 blasts that rocked the Mumbai suburban train network in 2006. One person was acquitted.

The quantum of punishment will be delivered on Monday following arguments from both sides.

As many as 209 people were killed and more than 700 were injured in the seven explosions, triggered by RDX bombs that were placed in pressure cookers. All seven blasts were set off on the Western Railway line of the city's suburban train network.

The first explosion took place at 18:24 hours, followed by six more in a span of about eleven minutes, during the after-work rush hour.

All the bombs had been placed in the first-class general compartments of trains running from Churchgate. They exploded at or in the near Matunga Road Station, Mahim, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivli.

The 12 convicted by Judge Y D Shinde are:

Kamal Ansari, Asif Khan, Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Kutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan, Tanvir Ansari, Mohammed Majid Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammeed Ansari, Muzammil Sheikh, Soheil Shaikh and Zameer Shaikh.

Of these, five have been convicted under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, which calls for the death penalty.
 
The sole accused to be acquitted is Abdul Wahid Shaikh.  

All 13 belonged to Students Islamic Movements of India (SIMI), which was labelled a terrorist organisation and banned by the government in 2001.

According to the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), the accused executed the blasts with the help of the Pakistan-based Laskhar-e-Taiba.
 
According to officials, as manyas 192 witnesses were examined by the prosecution, and 51 witnesses were questioned by the defence team. Eight IPS personnel, five IAS officers and eight doctors were among the witnesses.

The court relied on more than 5,500 pages of evidence over seven years to arrive at the judgement.