Terming them as “merchants of death” who exhibited their “extreme mentality” by choosing time and targets of their crime, the Prosecution on Wednesday rooted for capital punishment to eight of the 12 convicts in the 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts, while it sought life imprisonment for the remaining four convicts. On a day Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakre told the Special MCOCA court that given the role played by in the 2006 serial train blasts the eight convicts deserved death sentance, Judge Yatin Shinde reserved his order on sentencing for September 30.
The eight convicts, for whom the Prosecution sought death sentence, were: Kamal Ahamed Ansari, Tanvir Ahmed Ansari, Mohammed Faisal Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Shaikh Alam Shaikh, Mohammed Sajid Ansari, Naved Hussain Khan and Asif Khan. “Considering their role, the eight convicts deserve death penalty,” Thakre told the special court.
Maintaining that the target and the timing chosen for carrying out the blasts were other “aggravating circumstances”, the Prosecutor told the court: “It is common knowledge that suburban train from Churchgate to Virar is always fully crowded and during peak hours they are jam-packed. And a bomb blast in a running train or stationary train is bound to cause maximum causalities because of the rush. Therefore, choosing of time and targets also shows the extreme mentality of the convicts”
Seeking to ally “misconceptions” in certain quarters that the convicts were held guilty on the basis of their confessions, Thakre said the facts remained that “direct evidence and circumstantial evidence” matched with their confessions.
Seeking life imprisonment for four convicts — Mohamid Majid Shafi, Muzzammil Shaikh, Soheil Shaikh and Zamir Ahmed Shaikh, Thakre asked the Special court that the four deserved to be treated on a different footing than eight others who have been sentenced to death. He, however, said that in the event of four convicts being shown leniency in punishment, then “they should be sentenced to life till their end of their lives or for not less than 60 years”.
“In the event the court finds that these four convicts deserve some leniency then my submission is that, they are found guilty for offences which attract multiple life imprisonments, they should be sentenced to life till their end of their lives or for not less than 60 years,” Thakre told the court. It may be recalled that in a time span of just 11 minutes — from 6.24 pm to 6.35 pm on July 11, 2006, serial bomb blasts had ripped through the seven first class compartments of north-bound trains between har Road—Santacruz, Bandra—Khar Road, Jogeshwari—Mahim Junction, Mira Road— Bhayander, Matunga— Mahim Junction and at Borivali.
While 187 people were killed and 824 others injured in the immediate aftermath of the train bombings, two more survivors — Parag Sawant and Amit Singh — died subsequently.
The Anti-Terrorist Squad filed a charge-sheet in the 7/11 case before the Special MCOCA court on November 30, 2006, 142 days after the blasts that rocked seven first-class compartments of trains in Mumbai.