Mumbai train blasts case: What happened to the Pakistan nationals accused?

Indian Express

a day ago

While all 12 Indian men convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case were acquitted by the Bombay High Court on Monday, questions now linger around the Pakistani nationals who were alleged to have played a key role in the conspiracy.
According to the prosecution, at least 10 Pakistani nationals infiltrated India in the months leading up to the attacks. Among these, many were said to have planted the bombs that killed over 180 people. Yet nearly two decades later, these foreign operatives remain largely unaccounted for, with most said to have fled, one killed in the blasts, and another gunned down in a police encounter.
What was the Pakistani connection, as per the prosecution?
The prosecution had alleged that the 7/11 Mumbai local train blasts conspiracy mastermind was a Pakistani national, Azam Cheema aka Babaji, associated with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Cheema and the Indian accused, particularly Faisal Shaikh and Asif Shaikh, are alleged to have conspired sometime in 1999 to wage war against India and train Indian Muslim youth in subversive activities.
The prosecution, however, does not state when and how they met.
Cheema is subsequently said to have sent funds to India to train youths to 'avenge the alleged atrocities committed on Muslims in India, by causing widespread insurgent and terrorist activities by exploding/bombing financial nerve centers and causing mass damage to life and property thereby crippling the economy,' the chargesheet states.
On the back of this, between 2001 and 2005, seven of the 12 now acquitted accused, namely Faisal Shaikh, Tanveer Ansari, Kamal Ansari, Muzammil Shaikh, Suhail Shaikh, Zameer Shaikh, and Shaikh Mohd Ali, were alleged to have gone to Pakistan through Iran and undertake 'subversive training'. Faisal was the first to go and is said to have gone multiple times, with the prosecution claiming that he even met Hafiz Saeed.
A Pakistani Army Havaldar, Tafheem Akmal Hashmi, who is in Indian custody, had during the trial claimed to have met Faisal at a Lashkar-e-Taiba training camp near Muzaffarabad in June or July 2004.
How did the alleged conspiracy unfold?
The prosecution had alleged that in May 2006, Cheema asked Faisal Shaikh to identify targets, who informed Cheema that suburban trains were suitable for 'causing explosions.'
In the same month, several Pakistanis infiltrated into the country. Mohammed Majid, a resident of Kolkata, made arrangements and ensured the infiltration of six Pakistani nationals, namely Sabir, Abu Bakr, Kasam Ali, Ammu Jaan, Ehsanullah, and Abu Hasan, through the Bangladesh border. They then traveled from Kolkata to Mumbai by train, the prosecution said.
In the same month, four more individuals infiltrated from the Kutch border into Gujarat. They included two Pakistani individuals, Salim and Abu Umed, and two Indian nationals, Abdul Raazak from Hyderabad and Sohail Shaikh from Pune, who had settled in Pakistan.
One of the accused, Kamal Ansari, is alleged to have facilitated the entry of two Pakistanis, Aslam and Hafizullah, through the Nepal border. In all, 10 Pakistanis and two Indian nationals staying in Pakistan infiltrated to carry out the blasts in May 2006, according to the prosecution. One of the Pakistanis, Ehsanullah, was believed to have brought along 15 kg of RDX.
The prosecution alleged that all the 12 infiltrators reached Mumbai in May. The first group of six, who had come in from Bangladesh, were put up in a flat in Mira Road by Asif Khan. The four who came in from the Gujarat border were housed in Bandra West by Faisal Shaikh, and the two from Nepal were housed in Mira Road in the house of Sajid Ansari.
Subsequently, the planning for the bombings started, with three men, including Sajid Ansari, Sohail Shaikh, an Indian staying in Pakistan, and an unnamed Pakistani assembling seven explosive devices in the house of Mohammed Ali in Govandi. The explosives were made from July 8 to 10.
The prosecution has claimed that Kamal Ansari, along with Pakistani accused Salim, Hafizullah, and Aslam, planted the bomb in the train that exploded at Matunga Railway Station.
Naveed Khan along with wanted Pakistani accused Abu Umed planted the bomb that blasted between Santacruz and Khar Railway Stations. Faisal Shaikh along with wanted Pakistani accused Abu Bakr put the explosives that blasted at a train on the Jogeshwari Railway Station. Asif Shaikh with Pakistani accused Sabir were responsible for the Borivali Railway Station train blast. Ehtesham Siddiqui along with wanted Pakistani accused Ammu Jaan planted the train bomb that blasted at Mira Road Railway Station.
Bombs in trains also went off at Mahim and Bandra Railway Stations, but the names of the accused were not made public.
What happened to the Pakistanis after the blasts?
The prosecution has claimed that six Pakistanis were given shelter at the Mumbai residence of one Wahid Shaikh after the blasts, and then provided safe passage out of Mumbai by Mohamed Majid.
The prosecution does not state what happened to the other Pakistanis, barring the claim that one Pakistani national, Salim, died in the blast as he could not get off the train in time, while the other, Abu Osama alias Abu Umed, a Faisalabad resident, was gunned down on August 22, a month after the blast, in an encounter with the Mumbai ATS in Antop Hill.
His presence in Mumbai after all his associates allegedly returned to Pakistan remained unexplained.
What does the HC verdict say about the Pakistani nationals?
The court has noted that the defendants in their confession had claimed that they made seven pairs for planting bombs in the trains, which included one local and one Pakistani. The court has noted, however, that a confession by another defendant states that he was accompanied by three Pakistanis, stating that 'the truthfulness of this statement is under the cloud of doubt.'
The verdict also notes that complete details of the seven pairs who were accused of planting the bombs were not given. It also notes that the details of how the Pakistanis managed to escape were also not known and pointed out that the Indian accused did not attempt to run away.
'This is important to state because many accused were called as suspects at the initial stage of investigation and they were not arrested and allowed to go home. Even then, no one ran away,' the Bench observed.
The verdict also states that the prosecution has not detailed the dates on when the Pakistanis arrived in Mumbai, and neither is much known about the physical description of these men. The verdict also talks about how there are no details about how the RDX was brought to Mumbai.
'There is even no mention whether the full quantity of 15kgs RDX was used in making the bombs or some quantity was left over. If some quantity was left over, what was done with the same…' it states.
The verdict also states that the prosecution's argument that the accused had visited Pakistan was not evidence to state that they had committed the blasts.
It also states that while it was the prosecution's case that the accused were in contact with the key conspirator Azam Cheema and members of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba, the prosecution failed to place the call details on record.
'It is pertinent to note that the prosecution had sought the police custody remand of the accused on the ground, inter alia, that the accused were in contact with Pakistanis, Azam Cheema and his associates. Yet, even after the defence produced the CDR, the prosecution failed to establish any nexus between the accused and Pakistani nationals, including Azam Cheema and his associates,' the verdict states.