7/11 verdict: All 5 convicted of planting bombs given death sentence

They include 13 Pakistani nationals.

They also pointed out that the convicts faced several hardships in jail and that was also one of the mitigating circumstances. “Thinkers pose a question and even public cry is that why honest taxpayers should be burdened into paying for the convicts’ maintenance and upkeep while they are imprisoned for the next 40-50 years of their lives”.

Defence lawyer Sharif Sheikh called the sentence a “gross miscarriage of justice”.

The special court concluded the trial in August 2014 after examining more than 200 witnesses including senior police officials and bureaucrats.

On September 23, the Special MCOCA court had reserved its order on sentencing in the case for Wednesday.

Commuters and political parties across the spectrum as well as retired police officers welcomed the verdict and all eyes are now on the quantum of punishment which is likely to be announced on Monday.

The 13 were arrested between July 2006 and October of the same year.

Mumbai’s suburban train system is one of the busiest in the world, carrying more than eight million commuters a day.

Ansari, Sohail Shaikh: Received hawala money from absconding accused, Rizwan Dhaware for the exeucution of the blasts.

The five persons who were awarded a death sentence today were all accused by the Maharashtra ATS of conspiring and planting bombs during the 7/11 Mumbai serial blasts.

In June, 2007, the accused had approached the Supreme Court challenging Constitutional validity of MCOCA. “They have given sentence to innocent people”, he said.

“The court has not erred, it has made a huge mistake”.

On September 21, Advocate Yug Chaudhary, representing the convicts had referred to the injuries and brutalities inflicted on the then-accused, during police custody.

A defense attorney said he would appeal the court verdict, the Associated Press reported.

Seven out of them were awarded life imprisonment by special MCOCA court for the blasts in seven packed trains in a span of 11 minutes that killed 189 people. “The court has recognised our entire team’s investigation”.

The letter alleges that all the evidence, including witness accounts and “panch” witnesses, is false and there is no doubt about their innocence.