11 minutes that shook Mumbai
On this day 19 years ago, a series of blasts shook the lifeline of India’s financial capital. Seven serial blasts ripped through Mumbai’s local trains at peak hour on July 11, 2006, leaving 189 people dead and several injured.
Around 6.20 pm, a First Class compartment of a train running from Churchgate to Borivali exploded between Khar and Santa Cruz stations. Over the next 10 minutes, Mumbai’s suburban trains saw six more blasts, near Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Santacruz, Jogeshwari and Bhayandar stations of the Western Railway, sending shockwaves not just across the city but the entire country.
Packed into pressure cookers and put in bags, the bombs were planted in jam-packed First Class compartments, as commuters were returning home, to maximise casualties.
Indian agencies later found that the attack was planned by Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, and carried out by operatives of Lashkar-e-Taiba with the help from a banned Indian group, Students’ Islamic Movement of India. As usual, Pakistan rejected the allegations. But India too was not able to produce any evidence of Pakistan’s involvement.
However, the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) went on to arrest several suspects and charged them under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Survivors carried those scars for years as court proceedings dragged on for over a decade.
Offering a sliver of closure to grieving families, convictions were finally secured in 2015. Twelve persons were convicted of the train bombings. A special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) later awarded death penalty to five persons for setting off bombs; while seven other convicts were awarded life terms for being part of the conspiracy.
Yet beyond the investigations, it was the city’s response that defined July 11. As fear gripped the streets, Mumbai’s spirit quietly emerged. Strangers carried the injured in private cars, helped guide the lost and lined up outside hospitals to donate blood. The railways resumed services the very next morning, a testament to the resilience that the city is known for.
In the weeks that followed, security at major railway stations across the country was stepped up and new surveillance protocols were introduced. The attack, in many ways, shaped India’s urban anti-terror strategy, shifting its focus towards a more proactive approach.
Today, almost two decades later, July 11 remains more than just a date. It marks a grim chapter in India’s war on terror, a reminder of how vulnerable ordinary life can be, but more importantly, how resilient people can be in the face of fear. As the local trains continue to run, packed and punctual, they carry not just people, but also memories of those who never made it home that evening.
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