Mumbai serial train blasts investigations

Last updated

The following is the account given by the Mumbai Police Anti-Terrorist Squad of the investigation of the July 11, 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts which killed 209 people and injured over 700. A series of seven bomb blasts that took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains plying the Western line of the Suburban Railway network. The convicts have been punished. 5 were sentenced to death and 7 were sentenced to life in prison.

Contents

The timeline given by the Mumbai Police

March 2006

The conspiracy is hatched. LeT's Azam Cheema masterminds the blasts at his mansion in Bahawalpur with two modules of SIMI and LeT and their leaders. 11

May 2006

50 persons are sent to their training camp in Bahawalpur. They are trained to make bombs, fire guns and resist interrogation.

25 June 2006

LeT infiltrates bombers. Kamal Ansari (the prime accused) transports two Pakistanis via Nepal border, Abdul Majid transports five via Bangladesh border and unknown man escorts four from Kachchh-(Gujarat)

27 June 2006

The 11 men are lodged in 4 different places in Mumbai suburbs. Two lodged in Malad, four in Bandra, two in Borivali and three in Mumbra.

8–10 July

Ehsan Ullah transports 15 to 20 kg of RDX from Pakistan via Kandla. Ammonium nitrate bought in Mumbai. 8 cookers purchased from 2 different shops in Santa Cruz.

9–10 July

Bombs made in Md. Ali's flat in Govandi. Each cooker filled with 2-2.5 kg RDX and 3.5–4 kg ammonium nitrate. Transported to Sheikh Bandras home.

11 July 2006

Terrorists divide themselves into seven groups, two Indians and one Pakistani. Each group carries one pressure cooker in black Rexine bag, covered with newspapers. Planters get off at Churchgate station and use the subway that connects the platforms to board train.

Investigations (Timeline)

Mammoth Task

Police started from scratch as there were no clues on the site, all the clues they had were seven charred train compartments and the knowledge that ammonium nitrate was used.

The First Steps

ATS Chief KPS Raghuvanshi split officers into seven teams for the seven blasts. Sought RAW and IB inputs. Police detained over 400 people from Mumbai suburbs with no success.

The Cooker Handles

Police sift through blast sites and find pressure cooker handles and parts of aluminium lids in all the seven compartments, Shops from where cookers were sold traced.

Breakthrough

First success came on 18 July, when police intercept calls from Mumtaz Chowdhury to brother in law, Kamal Ahmed Ansar at Basupatti, Bihar.

Tracing the RDX

Cotton swab method reveals Faisal Sheikh's house in Bandra which was used to store bombs.

The Nemesis

Kamal Ansari and Ehtesham module was unearthed by ATS. This unveiled the module led by Faisal Sheikh. Mastermind Raheel Sheikh still missing.

Alleged Accused:

So far 13 people from across India have been arrested and charges have been framed against them.

6 April 2013

Police Accusations

The Indian Police had initially suspected that the blasts were masterminded by the banned SIMI and carried out by the LeT with substantial help from the Pakistani intelligence agency, ISI. When the Mumbai Police Chief, AN Roy, made the above allegations, and reiterated that there was good evidence of the ISI's hand in it. However, he said that they would need more evidence to prove the fact in a court of law.

Police have said that majority of the Indian conspirators in the blasts have been arrested. 2 have escaped to Pakistan. Also, one Indian conspirator died in the blast, whose body had remained unidentified since the blasts.

Police have also stated that out of the 11 Pakistanis involved, 2 were gunned down in an encounter in North Mumbai on 21 August. Police say they have evidence and locations of all the other 9, who they say are in Pakistan.

Aftermaths

Diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan soured after the allegations, with Pakistan denying all the allegations as "baseless" and saying it "definitely" won't hand over any suspect to India. India's PM has also repeatedly said there is "concrete" evidence against Pakistan and it will be presented to them. Indian Home Ministry officials have also vociferously backed up that claim. Also, an Indo-Pak "joint anti-terror mechanism" had been signed between the Indian PM and Pakistani President in Cuba in September 2006, under which the two countries agreed to "mutually combat terrorism". The Indian PM has repeatedly said that Pakistan's response to the evidence presented by India will be a "litmus test to their commitment to the joint anti-terror mechanism and its efforts to combat terrorism." However, most Indian analysts have lambasted the joint-anti terror mechanism saying it is a "farce"

Related Research Articles

The 1993 Bombay bombings were a series of 12 terrorist bombings that took place in Bombay, Maharashtra, on 12 March 1993. The single-day attacks resulted in 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries. The attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, leader of the Mumbai-based international organised crime syndicate D-Company. Ibrahim was believed to have ordered and helped organize the bombings through his subordinates Tiger Memon and Yakub Memon.

<i>Samjhauta Express</i> International Train

The Samjhauta Express is a bi-weekly train — Thursday and Monday — that runs between Delhi and Attari in India and Lahore in Pakistan. The word Samjhauta means "agreement", "accord" and "compromise" in both Hindi and Urdu.

2006 Mumbai train bombings 2006 terrorist attack on the Mumbai Suburban Railway

The 2006 Mumbai train bombings were a series of seven bomb blasts on 11 July. They took place over a period of 11 minutes on the Suburban Railway in Mumbai, the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the nation's financial capital. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains plying on the Western Line Suburban Section of the Mumbai Division of Western Railway. The blasts killed 209 people and injured over 700 more.

The 2006 Malegaon bombings took place on 8 September 2006 in Malegaon, a town in the Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra, 290 km northeast of Mumbai. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) initially blamed the bombings on the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), but in a chargesheet filed in 2013 the NIA and ATS joint investigation and involved evidences pointed towards involvement of a Hindu extremist group Abhinav Bharat in the said bombings. .

The 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred around midnight on 18 February 2007 on the Samjhauta Express, a twice-weekly train service connecting Delhi, India, and Lahore, Pakistan. Bombs were set off in two carriages, both filled with passengers, just after the train passed Diwana near the Indian city of Panipat, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of New Delhi. 70 people were killed in the ensuing fire and dozens more were injured. Of the 70 fatalities, most were Pakistani civilians. The victims also included some Indian civilians and three railway policemen.

Mecca Masjid blast Terrorist incident in India

The Mecca Masjid blast occurred on 18 May 2007 inside the Mecca Masjid, a mosque located in the old city area of Hyderabad, capital of the Indian state of Telangana located very close to Charminar. The blast was caused by a cellphone-triggered pipe bomb placed near the Wuzukhana, a spot where ablutions are performed. Two more live IEDs were found and defused by the police. Sixteen people were reported dead in the immediate aftermath, of whom five were killed by the police firing after the incident while trying to quell the mob.

2008 Bangalore serial blasts occurred on 25 July 2008 in Bangalore, India. A series of nine bombs exploded in which one person was killed and 20 injured. According to the Bangalore City Police, the blasts were caused by low-intensity crude bombs triggered by timers.

The 2008 Ahmedabad bombings were a series of 21 bomb blasts that hit Ahmedabad, India, on 26 July 2008, within a span of 70 minutes. Fifty-six people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Ahmedabad is the cultural and commercial heart of Gujarat state, and a large part of western India. The blasts were considered to be of low intensity, and were similar to the Bangalore blasts, Karnataka which occurred the day before. This bombings were done by Islamic Terrorist group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami.

The 13 September 2008 Delhi bombings were a series of five synchronised bomb blasts that took place within a span of few minutes on Saturday, 13 September 2008 at various locations in Delhi, India. The first bomb exploded at 18:07 IST, and four other blasts followed in succession, with at least 20 people killed and over 90 injured.

Abdul Qureshi is a formerly most wanted islamist bomb-maker and one of the most wanted terrorists in India and has been called India's Osama Bin Laden. He is suspected to be associated with the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), and is thought to have been responsible for participating in the Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi bombings. He is also a suspect in the 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings. He is more commonly known as Tauqeer and is believed to be the signer in the Indian Mujahideen terror email as al-Arabi. Abdul Subhan Qureshi was arrested by Delhi Police in January 2018. He was listed on the NIA Most Wanted list.

The history of Mumbai during the 21st century covers the Indian city of Mumbai in the 21st century, during which the city suffered several terrorist attacks.

Saffron terror refers to terrorist acts which are committed by extremists motivated by Hindutva. The term comes from the symbolic use of the saffron colour by many Hindu nationalist organisations.

The 2010 Pune bombing occurred on 13 February 2010 at approximately 19:15 Indian Standard Time, when a bomb exploded at a German bakery in the Indian city of Pune, Maharashtra. The blast killed 18 people, and injured at least 60 more, including an Italian woman, two Sudanese students and an Iranian student.

The 2011 Mumbai bombings were a series of three coordinated bomb explosions at different locations in Mumbai, India, on 13 July 2011 between 18:54 and 19:06 IST. The blasts occurred at the Opera House, at Zaveri Bazaar and at Dadar West localities, leaving 26 killed and 130 injured.

The 2011 Delhi bombing took place in the Indian capital Delhi on Wednesday, 7 September 2011 at 10:14 local time outside Gate No. 5 of the Delhi High Court, where a suspected briefcase bomb was planted. The blast killed 15 people and injured 79.

2012 Pune bombings Terrorist attacks

The 2012 Pune bombings was a series of four coordinated low-intensity bombing attacks that occurred on 1 August 2012 across Pune, the ninth-largest metropolis in India. As of October 2012, Indian Mujahideen, a terrorist group based in India, is suspected to be behind the attacks.

Pressure cooker bomb Improvised explosive device

A pressure cooker bomb is an improvised explosive device (IED) created by inserting explosive material into a pressure cooker and attaching a blasting cap into the cover of the cooker.

Syed Abdul Karim alias Tunda, was a bomb maker of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, and was accused of masterminding over 40 bombings in India supported by Pakistani terrorists He was arrested by Indian authorities on 16 August at the India-Nepal border. However, the exact timings of this arrest is disputed with various versions being reported.

Darsgah-Jihad-O-Shahadat is an Islamist group based in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, with branches in the state of Kerala. The group claims to have trained about 50,000 people in self-defence techniques at its training camps in Hazrat Ujale Shah Idgah grounds at Saidabad and Purani Haveli.

The 2006 Ahmedabad railway station bombing was a blast at platform number 2/3 of Kalupur railway station Ahmedabad, India. 10-25 people sustained minor injuries. At the time of blast no train was present at the platform, two trains had passed before explosion and the Kutch express was about to arrive at the platform, the casualties and severity of the explosion may increased if any train was present at the platform.

References

  1. 2006 train blast case: IM co-founder Sadiq Sheikh declared hostile witness. Ibnlive.in.com (2013-04-06). Retrieved on 2013-08-17.