Even as the Sessions court sentenced the five bomb planters to death and the other seven convicts to life imprisonment, speaking to Saurabh Vaktania, their family members said they would move higher courts to prove that the 12 had been falsely implicated
Convict: Mohd Sajid Ansari
Role: Made the electric circuits that were used in the blasts
Sentence: Life imprisonment
Sajid’s brother Khalid, said, “The case was totally made up against my brother. We have suffered badly because of the case. Both of my mother’s kidneys have failed and my father is bedridden. Every single piece of evidence was made up by the ATS. Our whole family is devastated.” Asked whether his brother had gone to Pakistan for training, Khalid denied it.
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Convict: Shaikh Alam Shaikh
Role: Provided his house where bombs were assembled; trained in Pakistan
Sentence: Life imprisonment
His brother Hazrat Ali Sheikh said, “Our house is very small. Two whole families stay here in Shivaji Nagar, where would they have made the bombs? ATS came to our house and took our pressure cooker. Our mother had kept chana dal inside in water.
They threw the dal and took the pressure cooker and said they would return in few days. They picked up my brother and kept him in several lock-ups in different places for over two months.”
“He has two sons and two daughters. Now his wife works from home to earn a living, making imitation jewellery. One of his daughters left her studies and is also working to make ends meet. Our life is hell; we had faith in the judiciary system, which is all tarnished now. We will move higher courts for justice,” he added.
Convict: Asif Khan
Role: Co-conspirator; procured explosive material; planted the bomb that exploded at Borivli
Sentence: Death penalty
His friend Raes Ahmed said, “My friend is a civil engineer; he has a wife and three children. This decision is totally wrong. The family is suffering badly. His friends provide monthly financial assistance to the family, with the help of which his children are now studying in school.”
Convict: Zamir Ahmad Shaikh
Role: Co-conspirator; surveyed local trains; trained in Pakistan
Sentence: Life imprisonment
His brother Sharif said, “My brother is completely innocent. He has been falsely implicated in the case. The officer who took his confessional statement was not even on duty that particular day. No explosives were recovered from my brother. The registration number of the taxi in which the ATS said my brother was travelling, actually belongs to an Activa. We have lost faith in the law.” Asked whether his brother had gone to Pakistan for training, he said, “This is false. He had gone abroad for work.”
Convict: Mohd Majid Shafi
Role: Transported Pakistanis from Bangladesh border to Mumbai and took them back to Bangladesh after the blast
Sentence: Life imprisonment
His wife Farzana was inconsolable as she told mid-day, “My husband used to work at a shoe shop. We have one daughter and we live in Kolkata. No one is there to look after me and my daughter. Both my kidneys have failed. We are financially ruined. My husband has been falsely implicated in the case. I had hoped that my husband would be acquitted. I don’t know where I am supposed to go now.”
Convict: Ehtesham Siddiqui
Role: Co-conspirator; surveyed the local trains; transported the Pakistanis to Mumbra; assembled bombs; planted the bomb that exploded at Mira Road
Sentence: Death penalty
His father Qutbuddin told mid-day, “He was subjected to all sorts of torture, like electric shocks. We had hoped he would be acquitted. I never thought he would be sentenced to death because our advocates told us that the evidence was weak. I came here from UP after I heard that the prosecution had sought death for my son. I got a chance to speak to him today; every time I met him in the past, he used to tell me that he would be out very soon.”
Convict: Faisal Shaikh
Role: Trained in Pakistan twice; sent youths to Pakistan for training; co-conspirator; harboured the Pakistanis; received hawala money; assembled bombs; planted the bomb that exploded at Jogeshwari
Sentence: Death penalty
His father Ataur Rehman said, “It is not a decision by the court, but a political one. The court delivered the judgment based on the prosecution’s case only.”
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