13/7 blasts: 9 years on, trial hasn’t started as 5 accused yet to be produced before court

Mumbai: Nine years since the 13/17 serial blasts, which killed 27 people, the trial has still not begun as the prosecution has not been able to produce the key conspirator,

Mumbai: Nine years since the 13/17 serial blasts, which killed 27 people, the trial has still not begun as the prosecution has not been able to produce the key conspirator, Yasin Bhatkal, and four other accused lodged in jails outside Mumbai, before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court. The reason: The Centre has restrained their transfer from their respective jails owing to security reasons.

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Besides, two key Indian Mujahideen operatives — Tehseen Akhtar and Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas — allegedly responsible for conspiring and planting explosives are yet to be arrested by the anti-terrorism squad (ATS). Akhtar and Waqas, who were arrested in 2014 for their involvement in the Dilsukhnagar blasts and sentenced to death, are lodged in a Hyderabad jail.

The special MCOCA court hearing the case had on March 29, 2019, passed an order to frame charges against the 11 accused arrested so far. The court can begin the trial only after the charges are framed.

The incident dates back to July 13, 2011, when a series of blasts took place at Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House and Dadar between 6.52pm and 7.05pm, killing 27 people and injuring 127 others.

Of the total 11 accused, five are lodged outside Mumbai. Three of them —Kafeel Ansari, Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Tabrez — are lodged in Tihar jail, while, Sayed Ismail Lanka and Saddham Hussain Khan are in Bengaluru jail. The presence of these five accused is necessary as they had objected to the process of framing charges, when they were produced before the court through video conferencing on August 1, 2019. During the hearing, the court had offered to conduct the process of framing charges through video conferencing, but the accused had objected to it, following which the court had asked the prison authorities and the prosecution to produce all the accused before it.

The prosecution has ever since been in talks with the Centre to allow them to produce the accused before the special MCOCA court. ATS officers have informed the court that they have forwarded their communications to the Centre, and efforts are being made to bring the accused to Mumbai. However, till now, no confirmation has been received by ATS. Special public prosecutor Ujwal Nikam refused to comment on the matter.

Defence lawyer Sharif Shaikh said the charges have not been framed yet as none of the accused have been produced before the court. “The agency has still not arrested key accused even though they are in judicial custody in other cases in India. The officers have assured that the steps are being taken, but nothing is moving,” Shaikh said.