By Probir Pramanik, IANS
Mumbai : A year after India's financial capital was rocked by a series of horrific train bombings, the men who masterminded the terror attack are still at large, though 13 suspects are being put on trial later this month.
The deadly explosions took place one after another along the city's suburban railway lines and train stations on the evening of July 11, 2006, killing 186 people and wounding many more.
Though Mumbai Police's crack Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) responsible for the investigations into the serial blasts arrested 13 suspects, the prime conspirators – including Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Azam Cheema along with three other Pakistani nationals, alleged to be explosive planters – are still at large.
Though the ATS claimed a major breakthrough with the arrest of the 13 suspects who were charge-sheeted in November last year, only four alleged bombers are among them.
"The masterminds have escaped. Take the case of Cheema. He has been named in a series of terror attacks around the country, all the while operating allegedly from his Pakistan hideout," said Y.P. Singh, a former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and now prominent lawyer here.
A senior ATS official told IANS: "Cheema operates from an LeT camp in Bahawalpur in northern Pakistan. He was named in the Aurangabad arms haul in May 2006. He then carried out the 7/11 bombings. And his name has cropped up in the Samjhauta Express blasts of February 2007 as well.
"For the 7/11 plot Cheema had recruited seven local bombers along with seven Pakistani counterparts and trained them at LeT's camps in Pakistan. Cheema along with 11 Pakistani terror operatives had entered India in three groups through different routes to carry out the bombings with local operatives belonging to the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI)."
They had entered India in batches via Bangladesh, Nepal and Gujarat, the official said.
"Cheema even stayed on to oversee the execution of the plot, after which he is believed to have slipped back to Pakistan via Bangladesh along with the other absconding accused."
Though the ATS claims to have booked 13 conspirators, experts feel that these are only peripheral players.
"As of now only four of the seven bombers are on trial. Apart from them, the ATS have named 15 suspects including Cheema and 10 other Pakistani nationals have been named absconders. One of the suspected Pakistani bombers, identified as Saleem, was the lone unclaimed blast victim. He was killed in the train on which he had planted a bomb that went off at Bandra station," Singh said.
While the masterminds have escaped, those going on trial are sympathisers who only played a minor role in engineering the bombings, Singh added.
All the 13 arrested have been charge-sheeted under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) besides the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Explosive Substances Act, the Railway Act, the Passport Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
As for the trial, it has not really taken off, with the authorities claiming that the 13 suspects were using "delaying tactics".
First, the accused retracted their confessions, then they alleged that the evidence produced against them in court were "illegal". Then, as the trial started early last month, the defence lawyers did not appear in court. After that, they moved the Bombay High Court to challenge the proceedings under MCOCA.
The high court, however, refused to stay the trial and the special MCOCA trial judge has now given an ultimatum and fixed July 28 as the trial date.
"The accused have all been booked under the stringent MCOCA and UAPA and are currently in jail. The ATS has already filed a 359-page charge-sheet with independent evidence and the trial is all set to open on July 28," special public prosecutor Raja Thakre told IANS.