2006 Mumbai train blast: Bombay High Court acquits all 12 convicts, including 5 on death row
Out of the 12 originally convicted, one Kamal Ansari died in 2021 due to Covid-19 while being incarcerated in Nagpur prison. The remaining 11 who have been lodged in jail for 19 years are now set to walk free.
PTC News Desk: The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all the 12 convicts of 2006 Mumbai train bombings that claimed lives of 189 people and injured over 800. Out of the 12, five convicts were on death row. The acquittal came nearly two decades after the serial blasts shook Mumbai's suburban railway network.
A special bench comprising Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak pointed out significant flaws in the prosecution's case observing that key witnesses were unreliable and that confessional statements were extracted through torture.
"The defence had raised serious questions about the test identification parade. Many witnesses remained silent for unusually long periods, some over four years, and then suddenly identified the accused. This is abnormal," the bench noted.
The judges also highlighted procedural lapses. "Some witnesses were not even examined during the trial. As for recoveries like RDX and other explosive material, the prosecution could not establish that the evidence was sacrosanct until it reached the Forensic Science Laboratory," the bench said.
Out of the 12 originally convicted, one Kamal Ansari died in 2021 due to Covid-19 while being incarcerated in Nagpur prison. The remaining 11 who have been lodged in jail for 19 years are now set to walk free.
The 2006 Mumbai blast is one of the deadly attacks in the chapters of Indian history that killed 186 people, with seven bombs exploding in first-class compartments during peak hours on the Western Railway line.