A special court has convicted 12 of the 13 accused in one of the deadliest terror attacks on India, the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, that killed 188 and injured 817 first-class commuters. All 12 convicts face a maximum punishment of death and a minimum of life in jail. Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare said he would research various judgements and try not being spiteful even though people felt such offences need not be shown mercy.
Investigators of the case said the bombings were plotted by Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which used banned Indian outfit SIMI to carry out their idea. Police said, 10 members of the LeT brought around 15-20 kilograms of RDX with them from Pakistan and made bombs, using Indian youths to execute the plot. The seven blasts occurred in a span of eight minutes, starting 6.23pm, on trains at or near Khar, Bandra, Jogeshwari, Mahim, Borivli, Matunga and Mira Road stations.
Special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court judge Yatin Shinde read out sections of the Indian Penal Code, MCOCA and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act before pronouncing the verdict. The convicts come from diverse backgrounds and professions ranging from a unani medical practitioner and software engineer to a footwear shop owner and a local lock-and-key maker. One of the planters, Ehtesham Siddiqui, is known to be a religious book writer and publisher from Mira Road. “Faisal Shaikh, who played a major role in the bombings, had visited Pakistan twice, in 2004 and 2005, and got training in LeT camps in assembling bombs and operating firearms. He was in direct touch with the LeT's Bahawalpur camp chief, Azam Cheema. Money was sent from Pakistan to other countries and finally reached India to carry out the blasts,” said an officer who was part of the investigation. The accused were convicted on a total of 32 counts. Other sections under which they are convicted come under the Explosives Act, Explosive Substances Act, Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, and Railways Act.
Abdul Sheikh, the only one to be acquitted, had been charged with harbouring a Pakistani national at his Mumbra house. Thakare said that one of the prosecution witnesses who was to depose on his role turned hostile. “There wasn't much evidence against him. I will have to peruse the judgement copy before deciding on an appeal against his acquittal,” he said.
