INDIA: TRAIN BLAST CONVICT DIES OF COVID-19

20 April 2021 :

Kamal Ansari (51), a death row convict of 2006 Mumbai serial train blast case, died of Covid-19 in a Nagpur hospital on 19 April 2021. He was convicted for planting one of the bombs which exploded at Matunga railway station, killing 28 people and injuring 122 others.
“Ansari was on ventilator since the past few days as his condition deteriorated after getting infected with coronavirus. Doctors declared him dead on 19 April afternoon,” said his lawyer, advocate Shahid Ansari.
Ansari was arrested on 20 July 2006 for his role as a planter in the serial blast case wherein in a total of 188 people were killed and 816 injured.
He was one of the convicts awarded capital punishment by a special court in Mumbai in 2015.
The case is still pending before the high court for confirmation of capital punishment.
Ansari, a resident of Bihar, grew up in poverty. He left his studies to help his family. Initially, he learned tailoring in his village at Basupatti. For better prospect, he left for Delhi where he worked at different garment companies. Then he left for training in Pakistan.
On 11 July 2006, seven blasts tore through first-class compartments of crowded local trains in a span of 11 minutes during the evening rush hour as millions of office-goers were heading home.
Police said the suspects targeted local trains as they were crowded and security was not as tight. They divided themselves in seven teams, each consisting of a Pakistani national and an Indian national, and the bombs were taken to Churchgate station on 11 July by taxis.

 

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