A year after the train bombings left 187 people dead in the metropolis, the stage is set for framing of charges in a special court on Monday against 13 accused in the worst terror attacks in India in a decade.
Maharashtra Court of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court Judge Mridula Bhatkar will preside over the trial once the charges are framed.
The July 11 bomb blasts in a span of 11 minutes in suburban trains, the lifeline of the financial capital, had also left over 700 injured. Maharashtra's Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) probed the case and filed the chargehsheet in November.
The 13 accused in the judicial custody are Kamal Ansari, Dr Tanvir Ansari, Faisal Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Mohammed Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali, Mohammed Ansari, Abdul Wahid Shaikh, Muzammil Shaikh, Soheil Shaikh, Zamir Shaikh, Naved Khan, Asif Khan Bashir Khan alias Junaid.
According to ATS, Faisal Shaikh, the alleged Mumbai chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist group, had worked for Azam Cheema (prime conspirator) in Pakistan and also recieved arms training there.
He had sent his brother Muzammil, Dr Ansari, Sohail Shaikh and Zameer Shaikh to Pakistan via Tehran on Cheema's orders and also helped in getting hawala money for the execution of the blasts.
{{/usCountry}}He had sent his brother Muzammil, Dr Ansari, Sohail Shaikh and Zameer Shaikh to Pakistan via Tehran on Cheema's orders and also helped in getting hawala money for the execution of the blasts.
{{/usCountry}}The conspiracy meetings were held at his residence in suburban Bandra, the ATS charged.
Shaikh also helped in assembling bombs in Mohammed Ali's house and planted the bomb that exploded at Jogeshwari station, according to ATS.