logo
HC acquits all 12 accused

HC acquits all 12 accused

Hans India5 days ago
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday set aside a special court verdict that awarded the death sentence to five convicts in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts and refused the Maharashtra government's plea seeking confirmation of their sentences. The High Court acquitted all 12 accused in the case, including those sentenced to life imprisonment. The special bench of Justices Anil S Kilor and Shyam C Chandak questioned the trustworthiness of certain prosecution witnesses and the Test Identification Parade (TIP) of some of the accused.
The bench ordered their release, if they are not required to be detained in any other case, and directed all of them to execute personal bonds of Rs 25,000 each.
Finding substance in the case of defence lawyers, the bench observed that the prosecution 'utterly failed to establish the offences beyond a reasonable doubt against the accused on each count.'
The bench led by Justice Kilor held, 'It is unsafe to reach the satisfaction that the appellant accused have committed the offence for which they have been convicted and sentenced. Therefore, the accused judgment and order of conviction and sentence are liable to be quashed and set aside' There were 13 accused, of whom one was acquitted by the special court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crimes Act (MCOCA). Of the 12, five were sentenced to death, one of whom died in prison during the pandemic, and seven were awarded a life term.
The special bench passed the judgement over five months after it concluded the hearing on January 31. The Bombay High Court had conducted hearings over the span of six months from July last year. A series of bombs exploded on seven western suburban coaches, killing 189 commuters and injuring 824 on July 11, 2006. After an over eight-year trial, the special court under the MCOCA awarded the death penalty to five of the convicts, and life terms to seven others in September 2015.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

State challenges Mumbai train blast acquittal, but appeals in key terror cases continue to face delays
State challenges Mumbai train blast acquittal, but appeals in key terror cases continue to face delays

Indian Express

time15 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

State challenges Mumbai train blast acquittal, but appeals in key terror cases continue to face delays

The Maharashtra government recently announced its decision to challenge the Bombay High Court's acquittal of 12 men in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case in the Supreme Court. The government's decision to challenge acquittal and discharges in past terror cases, including its appeal against the discharge of nine accused in the 2006 Malegaon blast case, filed in 2016, has however seen little progress in the Bombay High Court over the past eight years. Interestingly, two of the men— Shaikh Mohammed Ali (57) and Asif Khan Bashir Khan (54)—acquitted in the train blasts case were also among those discharged in the Malegaon case. The Maharashtra ATS had named nine men in the 2006 Malegaon blast case. The accusations against these men of having carried out the blasts was first investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and later endorsed by the CBI, which took over the case a year later. However, in 2011, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the probe, filed a chargesheet absolving the nine men, including Khan and Ali, of all charges. Instead, the NIA named four other individuals, allegedly members of a Hindu extremist group, as the main accused. The nine men were released from prison in 2016, but the state government immediately challenged their discharge. While the trial of the four Hindu men named by the NIA is ongoing and all four are currently out on bail, the high ourt's hearing of the state government's appeal against the discharge of the nine original accused has barely progressed. While the seven men who were freed in 2016, along with Khan and Ali, are now outside prison, the delayed legal process has left them in limbo, with the fear of returning behind bars still hanging over their heads. 'We have been living a free life for over nine years now. However, the fear of being called back to prison definitely looms over our heads. The appeal by the state government against our acquittal has hardly moved in all this time. While we are thankful that the judiciary discharged us from the case, I also believe that there is a need to fast-track cases so that people can get closure,' said one of the men discharged in the Malegaon 2006 blast case. 2006 was a pivotal year for Maharashtra when it came to terror-related incidents, marked by three major cases. First, in May, the Maharashtra ATS intercepted a Tata Sumo near Chandwad in Nashik district in the Aurangabad arms haul case, where police seized 43kg of RDX, 16 AK-47 rifles, 3,200 rounds of ammunition, and 50 hand grenades. Subsequently, on July 11, 2006, a series of blasts in Mumbai's suburban trains claimed 187 lives. Two months later, on September 8, 2006, four blasts in Malegaon killed 31 people. During its investigation, the Maharashtra Police arrested and put on trial 44 people in connection with these three cases. Among them, three accused Mohammed Faisal Attaur Rahman Shaikh, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam, and Asif Khan Bashir Khan were common links across the incidents. Faisal was named in both the Aurangabad case and the Mumbai train blasts. While he was convicted in the Aurangabad arms haul case, he was acquitted in the Mumbai train blasts by the Bombay High Court. He is currently incarcerated in Aurangabad. Two other men, Asif Khan and Mohammed Ali Shaikh, were seen as main conspirators in both the Malegaon and Mumbai train blasts. Police alleged that they were central to Pakistani-sponsored subversive activities in India. In the Malegaon case, both men were accused of attending a meeting in July 2006 in Mumbai to plan the blasts, along with other co-conspirators and a few Pakistanis. They were also alleged to have taken these Pakistanis to Malegaon, where the bombs were assembled. These individuals then reportedly left Malegaon with Khan and Ali after assembling six bombs and storing them in a godown. Khan and Ali were among the nine men initially named in the Malegaon blasts before being discharged in 2016. Asif Khan Bashir Khan (54) – Status: Free The elder son of a scooter mechanic from Jalgaon, Asif Khan was locally known for his social activism, particularly on issues affecting slum dwellers. In 1996, at the age of 23, he took part in a protest against the demolition of homes in Khwaja Nagri. The protest turned violent, police opened fire, and two people were killed—one of them Asif's cousin—which spurred Khan's deeper involvement in activism. Later that year, Asif moved to Mumbai to work as a civil engineer. Police allege that around this time, he was radicalized, became a member of SIMI, and was in contact with Pakistani terror groups. He was arrested in 2006 and accused of procuring pressure cookers and assembling bombs for the Mumbai train blasts, including planting one at Borivali. He was also linked to the Malegaon blasts and accused of ferrying Pakistani nationals to Malegaon, who allegedly manufactured the bombs that exploded in the city. Khan, however, denied the charges, claiming he was at his Kandivali office on the day of the Mumbai train blasts. Shaikh Mohammed Ali (57) – Status: Free Shaikh Mohammed Ali was accused of traveling to Pakistan via Iran to receive subversive training. He was also accused of being part of the conspiracy and of allowing his residence in Govandi to be used for assembling the bombs used in the Mumbai train blasts, allegedly with the help of Pakistani nationals. He was further linked to the Malegaon blasts, accused of participating in the conspiracy and facilitating the travel of Pakistani individuals to Malegaon for planning the attacks. A resident of Shivaji Nagar ,one of Mumbai's poorest localities, Ali worked at a cooperative bank before moving to Dubai. He reportedly returned within a month and started a small business supplying Unani medicines. During this period, he was allegedly active in SIMI and had launched a campaign against video parlours in his locality. He had been previously booked for being a SIMI member and was summoned by police several times, including after the 2002–03 Mumbai blasts. According to investigators, his 100-square-foot home was used to assemble explosives and remained under constant police surveillance. Mohammed Faisal Attaur Rahman Shaikh (50) – Status: Incarcerated (Aurangabad Jail) Mira Road-based Faisal Shaikh, 50, was accused of heading the Lashkar-e-Toiba's (LeT) Mumbai unit and convicted for being the key financier of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. He was accused of planning the conspiracy, acquiring hawala funds, harboring Pakistani operatives, assembling the bombs, and planting them. Faisal is the eldest of three sons of Attaur Rahman, who worked in Saudi Arabia. After spending time in Pune, the family shifted to Mira Road, where Faisal was allegedly indoctrinated by SIMI. Faisal is accused of conspiring as early as 1999 of waging a war against India by training Indian Muslim youth in terrorist activities. In June 2001, he obtained a valid Indian passport with the intention of traveling to Pakistan. Six months later, in January 2002, he allegedly crossed the border via the Samjhauta Express and trained with LeT operatives in Muzaffarabad and Lahore. He was also accused and subsequentyl convicted for being a part of a conspiracy in the Aurangabad arms haul case. Police claimed he was responsible for indoctrinating both his younger brothers. One of them—Muzammil (also arrested for the 2006 Mumbai train blast) was acquitted along with him while the other is reportedly absconding. His conviction in the Aurangabad case is the reason that he was not walked out free.

Tiruvallur child rape accused identified by cops, remanded to judicial custody
Tiruvallur child rape accused identified by cops, remanded to judicial custody

New Indian Express

time15 minutes ago

  • New Indian Express

Tiruvallur child rape accused identified by cops, remanded to judicial custody

CHENNAI: The Tiruvallur district police on Saturday identified the accused in the abduction and rape of a 10-year-old girl near Gummidipoondi in the district and said that he has been remanded to judicial custody. The Arambakkam police has arrested Kale Bishwakarma alias Raju Biswakarma (35) of Tinsukia in Assam in the case, police sources said on Saturday. He had been taken into custody on Friday from Sullurpeta railway station in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, a few km from the inter-state border with Tamil Nadu. According to sources, Bishwakarma worked at a local eatery in the locality. He was identified by the cops as he was wearing the same clothes seen in the CCTV footage collected by them in relation to the crime. The case pertains to the alleged abduction and rape of the girl on July 12 when she was returning to her grandmother's home after school near Gummidipoondi. The accused allegedly gagged and took her to a deserted place where she was raped. Three special teams each headed by a DSP had been formed under the direct supervision of the Tiruvallur superintendent of police (SP). The cops had also announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information on the suspect.

On CCTV, Three Masked Men Rob Bengaluru Jewellery Store At Gunpoint
On CCTV, Three Masked Men Rob Bengaluru Jewellery Store At Gunpoint

News18

time29 minutes ago

  • News18

On CCTV, Three Masked Men Rob Bengaluru Jewellery Store At Gunpoint

Last Updated: Three masked robbers barged into a jewellery shop in Bengaluru's Magadi Road, threatened the staff at gunpoint, and escaped with jewellery worth Rs 18 lakh. In a shocking incident, three masked robbers barged into a jewellery shop in Bengaluru's Madanayakanahalli area, threatened the staff at gunpoint, and escaped with 184 grams of jewellery, estimated to be worth Rs 18 lakh. The incident took place at the Ram Jewellers in Bhairaveshwara complex on Magadi Road on Thursday night. As the owner was preparing to shut the shop for the day, the masked robbers barged in, brandishing their firearms, and started looting the ornaments on the display table. One of the accused climbed on top of the table and began looting the jewellery from the wall cases. They also pushed aside the bank staff, whose screams alerted other shopkeepers. However, the robbers made off with the jewellery by the time anyone arrived to intervene. The entire incident was captured on CCTV. In a cinema-style #robbery onJuly 24 at Shri Ram #Jewellers in Madanayakanahalli on the outskirts of #Bengaluru city, masked men stormed into a jewellery shop & looted 184gms #gold at gunpoint (prima facie suggests toy gun) before fleeing the is on. @bngdistpol — Yasir Mushtaq (@path2shah) July 26, 2025 As per the video, the robbers managed to enter and rob the shop in a matter of 18 seconds. They had arrived in a Maruti Swift car. The accused, who reportedly brought a toy gun and a rope, escaped after placing the jewellery into six trays and stuffing them into a gunny bag. A case has been registered at the Madanayakanahalli police station. 'On the 24th night, an armed robbery case was reported in Madanayakanahalli Police Station, where 3 people barged into the jewellery shop around 10 pm. Within 15-16 seconds, they pushed aside people in the shop and took away 184 grams of jewellery," Bengaluru SP CK Baba told news agency ANI. He also mentioned that one of the accused used a toy gun to scare the bank staff during the robbery. 'Four special teams have been formed to nab the accused. We have clues, and we are working on it. Shortly, we will come back positively in this case," he further said. A few individuals are currently being questioned in connection with the case. view comments First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store