12 Indian Muslims acquitted in terror case after 18 years in prison
Bombay High Court finds no credible evidence in 2006 Mumbai blasts case, slams prosecution’s failure to prove guilt
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — In a powerful indictment of India’s anti-terror apparatus, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 Muslim men who had been jailed for 18 years in connection with the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish their guilt and relied on unreliable witnesses and unproven evidence.
The blasts on July 11, 2006, killed 189 people and injured over 800 when bombs exploded on seven commuter trains on Mumbai’s Western Line. Within weeks, a dozen Muslim men—some of them students, others working-class youth—were arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and charged under India’s draconian Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA), a law often used against Muslims and marginalized groups in so-called terror cases.
MCOCA allows confessions made in police custody to be admissible in court—a provision long criticized by civil liberties groups as enabling custodial torture and forced confessions. In this case, those fears were realized.
Human rights lawyers and civil society groups had for years alleged that the 12 accused were tortured into signing confessions and that the ATS fabricated evidence, planted arms and explosives, and presented fake witnesses to build its case. On Monday, the Bombay High Court vindicated those claims.
A special bench comprising Justices Anil Kilor and Shyam Chandak delivered the verdict after six months of hearings. In their ruling, the judges dismissed the prosecution’s case as riddled with inconsistencies, and said even basic elements—like the kind of explosive used—were never conclusively proven. Witnesses, including taxi drivers and commuters, claimed to have identified the accused nearly 100 days after the blasts—a claim the court called implausible.
Five of the men—Kamal Ansari, Mohammad Faisal Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddiqui, Naveed Khan, and Asif Khan—had been sentenced to death in 2015. The other seven received life terms. One of them, Kamal Ahmad Ansari, died of COVID-19 in prison in 2021, never seeing justice.
Another accused, Wahid Shaikh, was acquitted by the lower court in 2015 but had already spent nine years in jail. His book, “Begunah Qaidi” (The Innocent Prisoner), had documented custodial torture, solitary confinement, and abuse faced by the accused—accounts now validated by the High Court’s ruling.
India’s ‘war on terror’ as war on Muslims
Civil rights advocates have long argued that India’s counterterrorism strategy disproportionately targets Muslims. In many cases, like the 7/11 blasts, Muslim men have been picked up, tortured, and branded terrorists, only to be exonerated years later after their youth has been stolen by the state.
“This case exposes the institutionalized communal bias of India’s police and judiciary,” said senior advocate Dr. S. Muralidhar, who appeared for two of the acquitted men. “When there is public pressure, police assume guilt and then reverse-engineer evidence. Media trials amplify that bias, and the courts often fail to stop the injustice.”
Muralidhar called the investigation “biased and compromised,” and noted that confessions were recorded improperly, evidence was planted, and basic standards of due process were ignored.
He added, “These men have lost 18 years of their lives. There is no compensation, no apology. Their families were destroyed. Their names are still tarnished. And no one is held accountable.”
Arshad Madani, president of the prominent Muslim organization Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, welcomed the verdict but said that justice remains incomplete. “Those who framed these innocents, tortured them, and destroyed their lives must be held accountable. This cannot happen again. Courts are the only hope against the oppression by the communal state machinery.”
The case is the latest in a series of high-profile terror trials in India where Muslim men were eventually proven innocent. But by then, the damage was already done: lost decades, broken families, and a permanent social stigma.
For the 12 men who walked free on Monday, justice came late—but for Kamal Ansari, it came too late. His death in custody is a haunting reminder that state violence doesn’t always wait for a verdict.
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