"No Closure For 180 Families": Asaduddin Owaisi After Mumbai Blasts Verdict
Hours after the Bombay High Court acquitted 12 convicts in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, noting that the prosecution had "utterly failed" to prove the charges, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi asked if the government would act against the investigators who probed the serial train bombings that killed 189 people.
The AIMIM chief said 12 Muslim men spent 18 years in jail for a "crime they didn't commit," and the families of those killed in the blasts have "no closure" today. "12 Muslim Men were in jail for 18 years for a crime they didn't commit, their prime life is gone, 180 families who lost their loved ones, several injured, no closure for them. Will (the) government take action against officers of (the) Maharashtra ATS who investigated this case?" Mr Owaisi asked in a post on X.
On July 11, 2006, seven bomb blasts had ripped through separate Mumbai local trains within 11 minutes. Rigged pressure cookers were used for the bombings to amplify the damage caused. The first occurred at 6.24 pm -- rush hour due to people returning from work -- and the last at 6.35 pm. The bombs were placed in first-class compartments of trains from Churchgate. They exploded near the stations of Matunga Road, Mahim Junction, Bandra, Khar Road, Jogeshwari, Bhayandar and Borivali. In 2015, a trial court convicted 12 people in this case, sentencing five of them to death and the others to life imprisonment. Their conviction was set aside today.
"Innocent people are sent to jail and then years later, when they are released from jail, there is no possibility for reconstruction of their lives. From last 17 years, these accused are in jail. They haven't stepped out even for a day. The majority of their prime life is gone," Mr Owaisi said.
"In such cases where there is a public outcry, the approach by police is always to first assume guilt and then go from there. Police officers take press conferences in such cases, and the way the media covers the case, it kind of decides the guilt of a person. In many such terror cases, investigating agencies have failed us miserably," he added.
Mr Owaisi said two of those acquitted today lost both their parents when they were in prison. Another lost his wife without having a final conversation with her.
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