Five persons were today sentenced to death and seven others imprisoned for life by a special court here for the serial blasts on Mumbai local trains nine years ago that left 189 commuters dead and over 800 injured.
Kamal Ahamed Ansari (37):
Profile: A tall and hefty man, Kamal dropped out of school after Class V, and later worked as a tailor in Delhi similar to his father who used to work for the Indian army. Kamal’s mother used to provide Kamal and his family of six with the Rs 2,500 pension amount she gets. He later moved back to his village soon after getting married. He used to reside in a slum at a rural market.
Role in the blasts: Kamal Ansari transported Pakistani nationals to Mumbai via Nepal border, procured explosives, attended training in Pakistan and also planted a bomb in a local train, which exploded at Matunga railway station on the fateful day.
Mohammed Faisal Shaikh (36):
Profile: Faisal Shaikh, now a convicted bomber for the Jogeshwari station explosions, was a wanted man even before the blasts took place. He was on the radar since 2004, at a time which he was deported by Saudi Arabia for illegally staying there. Faisal after staying in Saudi left to Pakistan and received training at Bahawalpur camp in the same year. "I didn't want to come to India and wanted to stay in Pakistan and prove my loyalty with Muslims. But my trainers told me that if I wanted to prove my loyalty with Muslims then I should go back to India and avenge the killing of Muslims in hundreds of riots across India," Faisal has believed to have confessed to the police soon after getting arrested in 2006 in the blast case.
Role in the blasts: Mohammed Faisal Shaikh not only went to Pakistan twice for training, but had also sent youths to that country for training purpose. He had also attended conspiracy meetings besides giving shelter to Pakistani nationals. Shaikh received money through hawala route. He also planted a bomb in a suburban train, which exploded in Jogeshwari.
Ehtesham Siddiqui (30):
Profile: Ehtesham Kutubuddin Siddiqui was a chemical engineering student till he gave up on it two years later after getting arrested for being part of a banned student group SIMI (Students Islamic Movement of India). As a matter of fact, his wife left him just a few months of marriage and lived with her parents as soon as she came to know of his involvement with SIMI. Nevertheless, his interest in Islamic literature and Jihad kept growing and was often visiting the Lashker-e-Taiba’s website. He was recruited by Faisal Shaikh in 2003 and received training in Nepal by Riyaz Bhatkal.
Role in the blasts: Besides attending conspiracy meetings, Siddiqui also conducted reconnaissance of local trains. He was also present when bombs were made. He planted an explosive in a local train, which exploded at Mira Road station.
Naveed Hussain Khan (30):
Profile: Naveed was born in Kuwait and his father, Rashid Hussain Khan, works there. Rashid’s first marriage was to a Pakistani woman, an Islamic teacher in Kuwait. She died after she declined a kidney transplant on the ground that it was ‘unIslamic.’ The family then moved to Mumbai. Rashid married, for a second time, one Zareena Begum of Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. She and her daughter live in Mumbai. His elder brother, who works for an English daily newspaper in Mumbai, has already been arrested by the Mumbai police. Wine, women and coffee these were some of the habits Naveed Rashid Hussain Khan.
Role in the blasts: According to ATS, Muzammil Shaikh, Sohail Mehmood Shaikh, Zamir Ahmed Shaikh and Naveed Hussain Khan attended conspiracy meetings and also surveyed local trains, while Naveed planted a bomb in a train, which exploded at Khar station.
Asif Khan (38):
Role in the blasts: Asif Khan Bashir Khan alias Junaid had procured explosive material and planted a bomb, which exploded at Borivali station. Tanvir Ahmed, who also underwent training in Pakistan, attended conspiracy meetings to carry out blasts. He was also present at the time of assembling bombs at suburban Govandi.
(With inputs from PTI)