State challenges Mumbai train blast acquittal, but appeals in key terror cases continue to face delays
The government's decision to challenge acquittal and discharges in past terror cases, including its appeal against the discharge of nine accused in the 2006 Malegaon blast case, filed in 2016, has however seen little progress in the Bombay High Court over the past eight years. Interestingly, two of the men— Shaikh Mohammed Ali (57) and Asif Khan Bashir Khan (54)—acquitted in the train blasts case were also among those discharged in the Malegaon case.
The Maharashtra ATS had named nine men in the 2006 Malegaon blast case. The accusations against these men of having carried out the blasts was first investigated by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and later endorsed by the CBI, which took over the case a year later.
However, in 2011, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which took over the probe, filed a chargesheet absolving the nine men, including Khan and Ali, of all charges. Instead, the NIA named four other individuals, allegedly members of a Hindu extremist group, as the main accused.
The nine men were released from prison in 2016, but the state government immediately challenged their discharge. While the trial of the four Hindu men named by the NIA is ongoing and all four are currently out on bail, the high ourt's hearing of the state government's appeal against the discharge of the nine original accused has barely progressed.
While the seven men who were freed in 2016, along with Khan and Ali, are now outside prison, the delayed legal process has left them in limbo, with the fear of returning behind bars still hanging over their heads.
'We have been living a free life for over nine years now. However, the fear of being called back to prison definitely looms over our heads. The appeal by the state government against our acquittal has hardly moved in all this time. While we are thankful that the judiciary discharged us from the case, I also believe that there is a need to fast-track cases so that people can get closure,' said one of the men discharged in the Malegaon 2006 blast case.
2006 was a pivotal year for Maharashtra when it came to terror-related incidents, marked by three major cases. First, in May, the Maharashtra ATS intercepted a Tata Sumo near Chandwad in Nashik district in the Aurangabad arms haul case, where police seized 43kg of RDX, 16 AK-47 rifles, 3,200 rounds of ammunition, and 50 hand grenades. Subsequently, on July 11, 2006, a series of blasts in Mumbai's suburban trains claimed 187 lives. Two months later, on September 8, 2006, four blasts in Malegaon killed 31 people.
During its investigation, the Maharashtra Police arrested and put on trial 44 people in connection with these three cases. Among them, three accused Mohammed Faisal Attaur Rahman Shaikh, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam, and Asif Khan Bashir Khan were common links across the incidents.
Faisal was named in both the Aurangabad case and the Mumbai train blasts. While he was convicted in the Aurangabad arms haul case, he was acquitted in the Mumbai train blasts by the Bombay High Court. He is currently incarcerated in Aurangabad.
Two other men, Asif Khan and Mohammed Ali Shaikh, were seen as main conspirators in both the Malegaon and Mumbai train blasts. Police alleged that they were central to Pakistani-sponsored subversive activities in India. In the Malegaon case, both men were accused of attending a meeting in July 2006 in Mumbai to plan the blasts, along with other co-conspirators and a few Pakistanis. They were also alleged to have taken these Pakistanis to Malegaon, where the bombs were assembled. These individuals then reportedly left Malegaon with Khan and Ali after assembling six bombs and storing them in a godown. Khan and Ali were among the nine men initially named in the Malegaon blasts before being discharged in 2016.
Asif Khan Bashir Khan (54) – Status: Free
The elder son of a scooter mechanic from Jalgaon, Asif Khan was locally known for his social activism, particularly on issues affecting slum dwellers. In 1996, at the age of 23, he took part in a protest against the demolition of homes in Khwaja Nagri. The protest turned violent, police opened fire, and two people were killed—one of them Asif's cousin—which spurred Khan's deeper involvement in activism.
Later that year, Asif moved to Mumbai to work as a civil engineer. Police allege that around this time, he was radicalized, became a member of SIMI, and was in contact with Pakistani terror groups. He was arrested in 2006 and accused of procuring pressure cookers and assembling bombs for the Mumbai train blasts, including planting one at Borivali. He was also linked to the Malegaon blasts and accused of ferrying Pakistani nationals to Malegaon, who allegedly manufactured the bombs that exploded in the city.
Khan, however, denied the charges, claiming he was at his Kandivali office on the day of the Mumbai train blasts.
Shaikh Mohammed Ali (57) – Status: Free
Shaikh Mohammed Ali was accused of traveling to Pakistan via Iran to receive subversive training. He was also accused of being part of the conspiracy and of allowing his residence in Govandi to be used for assembling the bombs used in the Mumbai train blasts, allegedly with the help of Pakistani nationals.
He was further linked to the Malegaon blasts, accused of participating in the conspiracy and facilitating the travel of Pakistani individuals to Malegaon for planning the attacks.
A resident of Shivaji Nagar ,one of Mumbai's poorest localities, Ali worked at a cooperative bank before moving to Dubai. He reportedly returned within a month and started a small business supplying Unani medicines. During this period, he was allegedly active in SIMI and had launched a campaign against video parlours in his locality.
He had been previously booked for being a SIMI member and was summoned by police several times, including after the 2002–03 Mumbai blasts. According to investigators, his 100-square-foot home was used to assemble explosives and remained under constant police surveillance.
Mohammed Faisal Attaur Rahman Shaikh (50) – Status: Incarcerated (Aurangabad Jail)
Mira Road-based Faisal Shaikh, 50, was accused of heading the Lashkar-e-Toiba's (LeT) Mumbai unit and convicted for being the key financier of the 2006 Mumbai train blasts. He was accused of planning the conspiracy, acquiring hawala funds, harboring Pakistani operatives, assembling the bombs, and planting them.
Faisal is the eldest of three sons of Attaur Rahman, who worked in Saudi Arabia. After spending time in Pune, the family shifted to Mira Road, where Faisal was allegedly indoctrinated by SIMI.
Faisal is accused of conspiring as early as 1999 of waging a war against India by training Indian Muslim youth in terrorist activities. In June 2001, he obtained a valid Indian passport with the intention of traveling to Pakistan. Six months later, in January 2002, he allegedly crossed the border via the Samjhauta Express and trained with LeT operatives in Muzaffarabad and Lahore. He was also accused and subsequentyl convicted for being a part of a conspiracy in the Aurangabad arms haul case.
Police claimed he was responsible for indoctrinating both his younger brothers. One of them—Muzammil (also arrested for the 2006 Mumbai train blast) was acquitted along with him while the other is reportedly absconding. His conviction in the Aurangabad case is the reason that he was not walked out free.
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