Nineteen years after the 2006 Mumbai train bombings that killed over 180 people and injured more than 800, the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 men accused in the case, ruling that the prosecution had “utterly failed” to prove its case.
But for one of them—Kamal Ahmad Vakil Ahmad Ansari—justice arrived too late. Ansari, who maintained his innocence until his death, passed away in Nagpur Jail in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Sunday, his family and community members visited his grave at Jaripatka Muslim Qabristan and read aloud the High Court’s judgment declaring him innocent.
A Verdict That Came Too Late
Ansari, a resident of Madhubani in Bihar, once ran a small chicken shop and sold vegetables to support his wife and five children. In 2006, he was picked up by the Maharashtra ATS, accused of plotting the serial train blasts, and branded a terrorist.
“His life was shattered by false charges. He spent 16 years in prison, stripped of dignity, while his family lived under stigma and humiliation,” said Dr Abdul Wahid Sheikh, General Secretary of Innocence Network, who joined the memorial gathering along with local leaders.
They read aloud paragraph 1,486 of the July 21 judgment, which explicitly recorded Ansari’s acquittal, calling it a public vindication of what he had always said—that he was innocent.
‘A Hollow Victory’
For Ansari’s children, who grew up without their father, and his wife, who bore the weight of stigma, the acquittal feels like a “hollow victory.” Sheikh noted that justice delivered after death cannot undo the years of pain or restore what was lost.
“This is not an isolated story,” Sheikh added. “Ansari’s case is a chilling reminder of how innocents are branded as terrorists, spend decades in jail, and sometimes die before the truth is recognised.”
A Damning Indictment of the Case
The 7/11 blasts struck local trains at seven locations on Mumbai’s western line on July 11, 2006, leaving the city shaken. After nearly two decades, the Bombay High Court dismissed the prosecution’s case, ruling that the so-called confessional statements were inadmissible and suggested instances of “copying.”
For the families of the acquitted, the verdict is both relief and reminder: relief that the truth has finally been recognised, and reminder of a justice system that took far too long.
