7/11 blasts convict seeks reinvestigation into serial bombing case

Siddiqui, a Mira Road resident, was said to be an active member of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and was arrested by the Kurla police after the organisation was banned by the central government

Mumbai: A death row convict in the 7/11 train bombings in Mumbai, Ehtesham Siddiqui, has approached the special MCOCA (the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act) court seeking reinvestigation into the case.

Mumbai, India - Sept. 30, 2015 : 7/11 train serial bomb blasts arrested accused EHTESHAM KUTUBUDDIN SIDDIQUI (in Blue) who got death sentence steps out of Arthur Road Jail in heavy police protection for their verdict at MCOCA court at the city civil and Sessions Court in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, September 30, 2015. (Photo by Vijayanand Gupta/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The designated MCOCA court had on September 30, 2015, convicted 12 accused in the case and sentenced five of them, including Siddiqui, to death, and seven others to life imprisonment for their roles in the bombings that killed 188 people and injured over 800 others.

Siddiqui, a Mira Road resident, was said to be an active member of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and was arrested by the Kurla police after the organisation was banned by the central government.

As per the prosecution case, Siddiqui had planted bombs in a train which exploded at Mira Road. Also, it is said that he was present when the bombs were being prepared and was said to be one of the core conspirators.

Siddhiqui is presently lodged at Nagpur central prison, from where he had written a 3-page letter to the designated MCOCA court on Tuesday. The court has issued notice to the prosecution and sought their reply to the plea. Besides, the court has also asked Nagpur prison to produce Siddiqui through video conferencing on the next date of hearing, July 30.

Siddiqui had on July 8, written a letter to the union home minister, the state government seeking reinvestigation in the case, claiming that he was sentenced to death on the basis of false and fabricated evidence.

In his letter, Siddiqui claimed that “the investigations in Delhi blast of 2008, Ahmedabad blast 2008, Mumbai email case of 2008, Hyderabad blast cases of 2007 and 2013 have revealed that 7/11 bomb blasts were handy work of some members of the Indian Mujahideen (IM) group, and not by the earlier arrested accused persons (the SIMI members).”

He has further claimed that the intelligence bureau had submitted a report, recommending reinvestigation in the 7/11 Mumbai serial blasts case.

“In the year 2008, when members of Indian Mujahideen were held by Mumbai crime branch, it was revealed by those members that they had carried out 2006 Mumbai train blasts,” reads his letter to the home ministry.

Also, Siddiqui cited confessional statements of some alleged members of Indian Mujahideen caught in 2013 in support of his plea. He claimed that one of the accused, Asadullah Akhtar Haddi had given a confessional statement before a metropolitan magistrate in Hyderabad.

“In which (confession statement) he (Haddi) revealed that - in the year 2006 Mumbai train blast was executed by Sadiq Shaikh, Bhada Sajid Ateef Amin, Abu Rasheed. I have knowledge of the above said incident since I was one of the members of Indian Mujahideen,” Siddiqui’s letter stated.

Seven powerful blasts had ripped through the first-class compartments of local trains on the western line in Mumbai in 11 minutes on the evening of July 11, 2006. The blasts took place during rush-hour between 6:24 and 6:35 pm, killing 188 persons and injuring 800 others.