A Special ‘Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act’/MCOCA Court hearing the case, against 13 persons, most of whom were members of the ‘Students Islamic Movement of India’(SIMI)-, which was banned in India by the Supreme Court of India, had given its verdict in the case.
Out of the 13 persons accused and charge sheeted, 1 has been acquitted, and 12 persons have been found guilty and the verdicts have been pronounced on 30th Septmber 2015.
Out of the 12 persons convicted, 5 persons have been sentenced to death penalty and the rest 7 have been sentenced to ‘Life Imprisonment’.
The following is the List of 5 Persons convicted and sentenced with ‘Death Penalty’, under Section 16 of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act/UAPA:-
S.No./Name of the Convict/Age/Remarks:
1/Kamal Ahmed Mohammad Ansari/40 years/Resident of Basopatti,Madhubani District, Bihar-Received ‘Arms Training’ in Pakistan and ferried 2 Pakistani Terrorists across the Indo-Nepal border and dropped them to Mumbai- He is one who planted the bomb at Matunga.
2/Mohammed Faisal Attaur Rahman Shaikh/ 40 years/Resident of Mira Road-Head of the Mumbai unit of ‘Lashkar-e-Taiba’-Key financier of the ‘2006-Mumbai Train Blasts’-Planned the conspiracy-got ‘Hawala Money’ for the blasts’ fundings-Harboured Pakistani Terrorists-Assembled the Bombs and Planted them.
3/Ehtesham Qutbuddin Siddiqui/ 32 years/ Had been working in the Gulf-Came from his home town Jaunpur and came to Maharashtra and enrolled in an Engineering College- Dropped out of the Engineering College- Associated with the ‘Students Islamic Movement of India’(SIMI)-Had been an Office Bearer of SIMI -Harboured Pakistani Terrorists-Surveyed the Trains-Assembled the bombs-Planted the bomb at Mira Road-Bhayander.
4/Naveed Hussain Khan Rasheed/ 34 years/Born in Kwait- Pakistani Mother who had worked as an Islamic teacher in Kwait- Came to India purchasing a flat in Mira Road- Became a friend of Faisal Shaikh the main financier of the blastsHad been an employee of a ‘Call Center’at Secunderabad- Helped in assembling and planting the bomb at Bandra.
5/Asif Khan Bashir Khan/42 years/Resident of Mira Road area-Native of Jalgaon-Civil Engineer-Employed in a leading construction company in Mumbai-Member of the ‘Students Islamic Movement of India’(SIMI)- Harboured Pakistani Terrorists to Mira Road area-Responsible for procuring the Pressure Cookers’ for the bombs and helped in assembling the bombs- Planted the bomb in Borivali
The following is the List of 7 Persons convicted and sentenced with ‘Life Imprisonment’, under Section 121 of the Indian Penal Code/IPC:-
S.No./Name of the Convict/Age/Remarks:
1./Mohammed Majid Shafi/36 years/Owned a Footwear shop in the Raja Bazaar area in Kolkata-Involved in ‘Hawala’ dealings-Frequently moved in and out of Bangladesh thorough the porous Indo-Bangladesh border-Having relatives in Bangladesh- Helped 6 Pakistani Terrorists to cross over into India through the Indo-Bangladesh border.
2./Tanveer Ahmed Modhmmed Ibrahim Ansari/40 years/Resident of Agripada-Degree holder in Unani Medicine from Nagpur-Associated with the ‘Students Islamic Movement of India’(SIMI) -Attended ‘Terror Camps’ in Pakistan-Surveyed the local trains in which the bomb blasts were done.
3./ Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam/ 45 years/Resident of Shivaji Nagar-Worked in a Co-Operative Bank- Moved to Dubai-Returned back to India after a month-Started his own business of supplying ‘Unani Medicines’ to Unani Doctors, procuring the medicines from Hyderabad- Became a member of the ‘Students Islamic Movement of India’(SIMI) –His small house in Govandi had been used by the Pakistani Terrorists responsible for the bomb blasts to assemble the bombs.
4./Mohammed Sajid Murgub Ansari/ 37 years/Resident of Mira Road area-Owned a ‘Mobile Service Shop’ in Naya Nagar- Harboured 2 Pakistanis into India- -Procured the ‘timers’ for the bombs and assembled them- The resident of Mira Road is supposed to have procured timers for the bombs and assembled them. He was also charged with harbouring two of the Pakistanis.
5./Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh/ 30 years/A Software Engineer in Oracle Corporation, Bangalore, a few months before the 2006 blasts-Brother of Faisal and Raahil, the main planners of the blasts-Said to be trained in Pakistan-Surveyed the local trains bombed.
6./Suhail Mehmood Shaikh/ 45 years/Resident of Bhimpura Lane in Pune Camp area- Worked as a Tailor of Zari work and alteration works-Educated in the ‘English Medium’-Had been a ‘Faith Healer’-Said to have had ‘Arms Training’ at Pakistan-Surveyed the targeted local trains bombed-Said to have visited Iran to set up ‘Dry Fruits Business’-Was a member of the ‘Students Islamic Movement of India’(SIMI).
7./Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Shaikh/40 years/Resident of Worli-Studied at Khairul Islam High School in Mominpura-Graduated from the Maharashtra College in Nagpada in the year 1996-Was doing a road-side business of making ‘duplicate keys’-Had been trained in Pakistan-Surveyed the local trains-attended the conspiracy meetings of the bomb blasts.
One Person Acquitted:
Abdul Wahid Din Mohammed Shaikh had been a teacher at the Anjuman-i-Islam High School at Do Tanki, near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Mumbai.
He was accused of providing his home in Mumbai for harbouring Pakistanis, said to be involved in the blasts conspiracy, was acquitted by the court on grounds of ‘lack of evidence’.
Abdul Wahid Din Mohammed Shaikh, 36 years old, has been acquitted.
The 12 convicted and sentenced persons will appeal in the High Court against the punishments awarded to them in the case.
We will have to wait and see the ‘Judgement’ of the Maharashtra High Court in the appeals.
However, the convicted will approach the ‘Supreme Court of India’ after the High Court’s Judgement in the appeals.
Even if the capital punishments awarded to the above 5 convicts in the ‘2006 Mumbai Train Blasts’ case be confirmed by the apex court of India, they may go for ‘clemency’/mercy petitions to the Governor/s and or the President of India.
It is notable that the people of India are against the ‘death penalty’ and the ‘Law Commission of India’ has recommended for abolishing the capital punishment in India, except in the rarest of rare cases, especially in ‘Terror Activities’.
