2006 Mumbai train blasts: Five get noose, seven sentenced to life imprisonment

The special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Wednesday awarded capital punishment to five convicts and life imprisonment to seven others in the 2006 serial train blasts case. The court also levied fine on each of the convict.

The court, presided over by judge Yatin D Shinde, had last week heard the arguments on the quantum of sentence which had to be awarded to the convicts who were held guilty. The court had acquitted one accused on the grounds of lack of evidence.

The court awarded capital punishment to Kamal Ansari, Mohammed Faisal Shaikh, Ehtesham Siddhiqui, Naveed Khan and Asif Bashir Khar. All five were held guilty under the prime charge of conspiring and committing murder and thus were awarded with death penalty. The remaining seven accused were awarded with life imprisonment under several sections of MCOCA. Total fine imposed on all the 12 accused is Rs 1.52 crore.

The entire atmosphere in the court was calm and none of the accused reacted on the verdict. However, speaking to dna, the accused said they did not have much hope and knew what was in store.

Defence advocate Yug Chaudhary, who argued on behalf of the accused, said "the verdict was a miscarriage of justice". He said the case was not even worth conviction.

The prosecution, meanwhile, termed it a "real victory". Special public prosecutor Raja Thakare said the main convicts are rightly held responsible and awarded with apt punishment.