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2006 Mumbai train blasts case: 8 released from various jails after high court order
HC overturned 2015 MCOCA verdict, citing probe lapses and lack of credible evidence; 5 on death row, 7 serving life were released.
Pune: Eight of the 12 men accused in the 2006 Mumbai suburban train bombings were released from various Maharashtra prisons on Monday evening, following the Bombay high court’s recent order granting them bail. All eight were released after completing formalities as per the standard procedure, and signing personal bonds where they agree to comply with the conditions set by the court. Two others remain in jail due to pending cases, and one is out on parole.
A 2015 judgement by a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court had sentenced five accused to death and seven others to life imprisonment. Their release came after the high court, while hearing their appeals noted that the trial had taken an unusually long time and that the convicts had already spent more than 17 years in prison. The court overturned the earlier MCOCA judgement citing insufficient credible evidence and lapses in the investigation.
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According to prison department officials, the releases on Monday were carried out across four central prisons in the state. At the Yerawada Central Prison in Pune which held two of the convicts, Asif Bashir Khan was released while Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rehman Sheikh was not released due to pending cases against him.
One of the convicts facing capital punishment, Mohammad Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, was released from the Nashik Central Jail on Monday evening. He welcomed the high court judgement and said, “Finally, I have got justice. I am happy about it.”
The four convicts lodged at the Amravati Central Prison, Tanveer Ahmed Ansari, Sohail Mehboob Shaikh, Zameer Ahmed Latifur Rehman Sheikh, and Mohammad Sajid Mohammad Shafi were all released. Rahil Shaikh, Suhail’s brother, before heading to Amravati to receive him, said, “We feel we have finally got justice. We always had faith in the judiciary and this order has reinforced our belief.”
At the Nagpur Central Prison where four of the convicts were lodged, Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui and Mohammed Ali Shaikh were released, while Naveed Hussain Khan has not been released due to two pending cases against him. The fourth convict, Kamal Ansari, had died of Covid-19 in 2021.
Of the two convicts at the Nashik Road Central Prison, Mujamil Ataur Rehman Sheikh was released by late evening on Monday, and Sajid Mehmood Ansari was already out on parole.
