Mumbai, July 21:The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 accused persons, convicted in connection with the 2006 series Mumbai train blast case, that claimed 180 lives, for no reliable evidence.
The HC in its order said the prosecution utterly failed to prove the case and it was "hard to believe they committed the crime", as the deposition of the witnesses said nothing about the types of bomb used in the blasts.
A special bench of Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak said the prosecution has failed with no substantial and sizeable evidence.
The Bombay HC thus quashed the conviction of the 12 persons, of whom five had been sentenced to death and seven to life imprisonment by a special court on the basis of a case filed by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), Mumbai.
The bench refused to confirm the death penalty imposed on five of the convicts and the life imprisonment on the remaining seven by a special court in 2015, and acquitted them.
The HC said the accused shall be released from jail forthwith if not wanted in any other case.
The death row convicts were Kamal Ansari (now dead), Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan and Asif Khan.
Similarly, the court had awarded life imprisonment to Tanveer Ahmed Mohammed Ibrahim Ansari, Mohammed Majid Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Margub Ansari, Muzammil Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Suhail Mehmood Shaikh and Zameer Ahmed Latiur Rehman Shaikh.
One of the accused, Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted by the trial court in 2015 during trial.
Worth mentioning, at least seven blasts ripped through Mumbai local trains at various locations on the western line on July 11, 2006, killing more than 180 persons and leaving scores of people critical.
