7/11 Mumbai blasts: Five get death, seven get life imprisonment

MUMBAI: Five persons were on Wednesday sentenced to death and seven others imprisoned for life by a special court here for the serial blasts on Mumbai local trains nine years ago that left 189 commuters dead and over 800 injured.

Delivering the verdict, Special MCOCA judge Yatin D Shinde awarded capital punishment to Kamal Ahamed Ansari (37), Mohd Faisal Shaikh (36), Ehtesham Siddiqui (30), Naveed Hussain Khan (30) and Asif Khan (38). Seven accused spared the noose were Tanvir Ahmed Ansari (37), Mohammad Majid Shafi (32), Shaikh Alam Shaikh (41), Mohd Sajid Ansari (34), Muzzammil Shaikh (27), Soheil Mehmood Shaikh (43) and Zamir Ahmad Shaikh (36).

The blasts, which sent shockwaves across the metro, ripped seven suburban trains within a span of 10 minutes between Khar Road-Santacruz, Bandra-Khar Road, Jogeshwari-Mahim Junction, Mira Road-Bhayander, Matunga-Mahim Junction and Borivali. Seven RDX bombs exploded in the first class coaches in as many suburban trains, killing 189 people and injuring 829. The ATS chargesheet had said that Improvised Explosive Devices were made in a room in Govandi in suburban Mumbai and some Pakistani nationals were also present during the bomb-making. After a long-drawn trial, on September 11, the court convicted 12 of the 13 accused, all allegedly having links with banned SIMI, while acquitting one.