A court in India has acquitted 12 men previously convicted in the 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed 187 people and injured over 800. The Bombay High Court ruled that the prosecution had “utterly failed” to establish that the accused had committed the offences for which they had been convicted.
The bombs, packed into seven pressure cookers and put in bags, detonated within six minutes of each other during the evening rush hour on July 11, 2006. The blasts took place in the areas of Matunga, Khar, Mahim, Jogeshwari, Borivali, and Mira Road, with most on moving trains and two at stations. Indian security agencies blamed the attack on Islamic militants backed by Pakistan, an allegation the country denied.
In 2015, a special court convicted the men of murder, conspiracy, and waging war against the country. Five of the accused were sentenced to death, while the remaining seven were sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the Bombay High Court has now overturned the earlier order, citing doubts over the credibility of the witnesses produced by the prosecution and the confessional statements made by the accused.
The court also acknowledged the defence’s contention that the recovered evidence was not maintained in a “sealed condition throughout”. The prosecution can appeal against the order in a higher court. One of the accused, Kamal Ansari, who had been sentenced to death, died of Covid in 2021.
The court’s 667-page order noted that the defence had questioned the credibility of the witnesses produced by the prosecution, as well as the confessional statements made by the accused. The court conducted over 75 sittings and examined 92 prosecution witnesses and over 50 defence witnesses over six months.
The acquittal has brought relief to the accused, who have been in jail since their arrest shortly after the blasts. The case highlights the challenges faced by the Indian justice system in dealing with complex terror cases, where evidence and witness testimony can be critical to determining the outcome.