The Ahmedabad sessions court has acquitted three men—Mohammed Amir Shaikh, Aquib Saiyed, and Aslam Kashmiri—arrested in connection with the 2006 bomb blast at Kalupur railway station, citing insufficient evidence. The judgement was delivered by additional sessions judge S L Thakkar, who noted that no witness testimony or documentary evidence presented by the prosecution established the involvement of the accused in planning or executing the attack.
The bomb explosion occurred on 18 February 2006 on the Karnavati Express from Mumbai, injuring 10–15 passengers. According to the anti-terrorism squad (ATS), a bag containing RDX and a timer was planted on the train, allegedly placed by a porter on the instruction of railway police constable Kamlesh Bhagora. Bhagora was charged with negligence and conspiracy with anti-national elements but was acquitted in 2013, along with another accused, due to lack of evidence.
Of the three men acquitted on Monday, only Aslam Kashmiri will be released from jail, said defence advocate Khalid Shaikh. Kashmiri was taken into custody in 2009, whereas Shaikh and Saiyed, arrested in 2006, are serving life sentences in separate jails for other cases.
The ATS had charged a total of nine individuals with terrorism under the Indian Penal Code, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and the Explosives Act. The trial against Shaikh, Saiyed and Kashmiri began on 11 November 2016, with the prosecution examining 34 witnesses and presenting 22 documents as evidence. Judge Thakkar, however, concluded that the evidence did not support the prosecution’s allegations, leading to the acquittal of all three accused in the case.
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