Mumbai train blasts: 12 convicted, 1 freed

More than nine years after the crime, a special court today convicted 12 of the 13 accused in the 2006 bombings in Mumbai's suburban trains that killed nearly 200 people.

Special judge Y D Shinde delivered the verdict in a packed courtroom amid tight security. 

The 12 who were convicted are Kamal Ansari, Asif Khan, Mohammed Faisal Ataur Rahman Shaikh, Ehtesham Kutubuddin Siddiqui, Naveed Hussain Khan, Tanvir Ansari, Mohammed Majid Shafi, Shaikh Mohammed Ali Alam Shaikh, Mohammeed Ansari, Muzammil Sheikh, Soheil Shaikh and Zameer Shaikh.

Abdul Wahid Shaikh was the only accused to be acquitted by the special court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.

The court will announce the quantum of punishment for the convicts on Monday, 14 September.

According to the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), the 13 were members of the banned Students Islamic Movements of India (SIMI) who carried out the bombings with the help of the Pakistan-based Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Officials said the prosecution examined 192 witnesses, while defence lawyers examined 51 witnesses. The witnesses included eight Indian Police Service officials, five Indian Administrative Service officials and eight doctors. More than 5,500 pages of evidence were examined in the case.

The seven blasts in the suburban trains on 11 July 2006 killed 188 people and injured 829. The blasts occurred in seven trains on the Western Railway network bound for Borivli and Virar within a span of 11 minutes.