12 Muslims acquitted in 2006 Mumbai train blasts case after 20 years in jail
As many as 12 highly qualified Muslims accused in 2006 Mumbai train blasts case were Monday July 21, 2025 acquitted by the Bombay High Court as the prosecution failed to prove charges against them
Mumbai: As many as 12 highly qualified Muslims accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case were Monday July 21, 2025 acquitted by the Bombay High Court as the prosecution failed to prove charges against them.
The 12 Muslims, who included doctors, engineers and graduates, will walk free after almost 20 long years in jail as the High Court set aside their conviction by the lower court.
As many as 189 people were killed and 824 others were injured when a series of blasts hit the suburban local trains in Mumbai during the rush hours on July 11, 2006. Bombs planted in 7 trains on Western Railway Line exploded one after the other in a span of 11 minutes.
A Trial Court had convicted the 12 accused, sentencing 5 of them to death and the others to life imprisonment in 2015.
Who are the 12 men acquitted in the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts case?
The 5 sentenced to death were Kamal Ansari from Bihar, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh from Mumbai, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui from Thane, Naveed Hussain Khan from Secunderabad and Asif Khan from Jalgaon in Maharashtra. Kamal Ansari had died in Nagpur Jail during COVID-19.
The 7 who were sent to life imprisonment were 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 Latifur Rehman Shaikh.
One of the accused, Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted by the Trial Court after spending nine years in jail.
The Bombay High Court bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam Chandak while setting aside their conviction noted that the prosecution "utterly failed" to prove the case against the accused.
“It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their conviction is quashed and set aside," the bench said.
The court said the accused shall be released from jail if they are not wanted in any other case.
“Muslims jailed for no crimes”
Commenting on the acquittal of the 12 Muslims, Hyderabad MP and President AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi said 12 Muslims languished in jails for the crimes they had not committed.
During this period, some of them lost their parents while one accused lost his wife, Owaisi said.
“12 Muslim men where in jail for 18 years for a crime they didn't commit… Their prime life is gone, 180 families who lost their loved ones, several injured…. No closure for them…
“Will the government take action against officers of Maharashtra ATS who investigated this case?” Owaisi asked.
"Innocent people are sent to jail and then years later when they are released there is no possibility for reconstruction of their lives. From last 17 years these accused are in jail. They haven't stepped out even for a day. The majority of their prime life is gone.
"In such cases where there is a public outcry, the approach by police is always to first assume guilt and then go from there. Police officers take press conferences in such cases, and the way the media covers the case, it kind of decides the guilt of a person. In many such terror cases, investigating agencies have failed us miserably", Owaisi wrote on social media platform X quoting from the submission of Justice S. Muralidhar, former Orissa High Court Chief Justice and now senior lawyer, who appeared for some of the Muslims framed in the case.
Relatives relieved, victims shocked
Meanwhile, the relatives of the Muslims who were acquitted today, are relieved after the Bombay High Court verdict.
Talking to media, they said they expected the same verdict from the Trial Court in 2015 as there were no evidence against the Muslims and they were framed.
"We were moved to tears with joy. We had hoped for such a verdict back in 2015, but it didn’t come in our favor then as it has today. All the accused have been acquitted of all charges. This was a completely fabricated case. Our brother was innocent...", Zameer Shaikh’s brother, told news agency IANS.
Jamiat Ulema, the organisation which provided legal aid to Muslims framed in the 26/7 Mumbai train blasts case, said they believed about their innocence from the day one.
"After studying the case details, our lawyers had said there were no evidence against the Muslim youths arrested in the case. They were all innocents and framed in the case. Hence, we expected their acquittal by the Trial Court. Unfortunately it didn't happen. But the Bombay HC verdict today is as per our expectations", Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra President Maulana Haleemullah Qasmi said.
The family members of those killed in the blasts and those injured, on the other hand are shattered and shocked.
"I want to ask the High Court why it didn’t uphold the verdict of the lower court. We are very saddened that all 12 accused have been acquitted of all charges", Mumbai blasts victim, Hansraj Kanojia, told PTI.
Another victim, Chirag Chitle while reacting to the Bombay High Court’s verdict to acquit all 12 accused in the case, said, “I do not agree with the verdict. It took 19 years to reach this point..."
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