Nine years after bombs ripped through seven Mumbai passenger trains, killing 187 people and leaving 817 injured, a court found 12 people guilty for their role in plotting one of the most frightening cases of terrorism in India – perhaps anywhere in the world. But more than the pain of the attacks, the memory that stays with many Mumbai residents is of the selflessness with which their fellow citizens surged forward to help the victims.
The bombs, made from powerful explosives used by the army, were said to have be concealed in brand-new pressure cookers packed into shopping bags. All of them were placed in first-class compartments of trains headed north. They had been planted in the trains at Churchgate, the southern-most point of the Western Railway line. The first bomb went off at 6.23 pm near Mahim station, the last one at 6.31 pm near Mira-Bhayandar, 35 km from Churchgate.
As the bombs started to go off, there was total confusion. No one, not even the police, knew how many blasts had occurred and where. But ordinary people rushed in to help the victims. Slum dwellers living by the tracks turned their bedsheets into stretchers for the injured. Long queues of potential donors formed instantly outside hospital blood banks. Commuters trudging home were constantly offered food and snacks by residents along the main thoroughfares.
Motive still hazy
The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police claimed that the blasts aimed to punish Mumbai’s prosperous Gujarati community for the communal riots of 2002 in Gujarat. Several Gujaratis who own diamond polishing units at Opera House, not far from Churchgate, take the local train home around 6 pm. It still isn’t clear how the attackers hoped to isolate Gujaratis in a train packed with people from all communities. After all, there were several Muslims among the dead.
The judgment on Friday of special judge YD Shinde of the Maharashra Control of Organised Crime Act court threw some more light on the case. Twelve people, mostly members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, were convicted for harboring explosives experts from Pakistan, assisting them in assembling the bombs in the shanties of Govandi, a Muslim-dominated slum in the eastern suburbs, surveying the local trains and planting the bombs. The quantum of punishment will be decided on Monday.
The prosecution case rested largely on confessions. Perhaps because of this, after nine years behind bars, one of the accused, Abdul Wahid Mohammed Shaikh, was been acquitted of all charges.
Key accused are absconding
Though the verdict has been delivered, the key culprits have not been arrested. The chargesheet names 30 accused, with 13 accused said to be Pakistanis.
The blasts had the potential to disrupt life in the commercial capital but astonishingly, its citizens picked themselves up and got back into the trains the very next day. Though some had feared the outbreak of communal violence, the old network of mohalla committees – groups of neighbourhood elders set up in the wake of riots in December 1992 and January 1993 – snapped into place to keep the peace. Even the very carriages that had been damaged by the blasts were repaired and back in action in a month.
All this was a fitting reply to terrorists who sought to disrupt life and create disharmony between communities. Today, the only physical reminder of the 7/11 attacks is a modest memorial to the 187 victims at Mahim station.
The bombs, made from powerful explosives used by the army, were said to have be concealed in brand-new pressure cookers packed into shopping bags. All of them were placed in first-class compartments of trains headed north. They had been planted in the trains at Churchgate, the southern-most point of the Western Railway line. The first bomb went off at 6.23 pm near Mahim station, the last one at 6.31 pm near Mira-Bhayandar, 35 km from Churchgate.
As the bombs started to go off, there was total confusion. No one, not even the police, knew how many blasts had occurred and where. But ordinary people rushed in to help the victims. Slum dwellers living by the tracks turned their bedsheets into stretchers for the injured. Long queues of potential donors formed instantly outside hospital blood banks. Commuters trudging home were constantly offered food and snacks by residents along the main thoroughfares.
Motive still hazy
The Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police claimed that the blasts aimed to punish Mumbai’s prosperous Gujarati community for the communal riots of 2002 in Gujarat. Several Gujaratis who own diamond polishing units at Opera House, not far from Churchgate, take the local train home around 6 pm. It still isn’t clear how the attackers hoped to isolate Gujaratis in a train packed with people from all communities. After all, there were several Muslims among the dead.
The judgment on Friday of special judge YD Shinde of the Maharashra Control of Organised Crime Act court threw some more light on the case. Twelve people, mostly members of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India, were convicted for harboring explosives experts from Pakistan, assisting them in assembling the bombs in the shanties of Govandi, a Muslim-dominated slum in the eastern suburbs, surveying the local trains and planting the bombs. The quantum of punishment will be decided on Monday.
The prosecution case rested largely on confessions. Perhaps because of this, after nine years behind bars, one of the accused, Abdul Wahid Mohammed Shaikh, was been acquitted of all charges.
Key accused are absconding
Though the verdict has been delivered, the key culprits have not been arrested. The chargesheet names 30 accused, with 13 accused said to be Pakistanis.
The blasts had the potential to disrupt life in the commercial capital but astonishingly, its citizens picked themselves up and got back into the trains the very next day. Though some had feared the outbreak of communal violence, the old network of mohalla committees – groups of neighbourhood elders set up in the wake of riots in December 1992 and January 1993 – snapped into place to keep the peace. Even the very carriages that had been damaged by the blasts were repaired and back in action in a month.
All this was a fitting reply to terrorists who sought to disrupt life and create disharmony between communities. Today, the only physical reminder of the 7/11 attacks is a modest memorial to the 187 victims at Mahim station.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!