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Timeline Of Major Terrorist Attacks In Mumbai

From the 1993 serial blasts to 26/11 and beyond, uncover Mumbai's tragic terror attacks: a timeline of carnage, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of justice.

Mumbai Terror Attacks Getty Images

The Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 accused and set aside the death sentence awarded to five of the accused by a special court in the 2006 Mumbai train blast case. The court refused the Maharashtra government’s plea seeking confirmation of their sentences.

While on the one hand, this reflects the failure of police and investigative agencies, on the other hand, it shows how judicial hurdles can take away two decades from an accused person or person's life.

Mumbai (Bombay), the financial capital of the country, has been a target of several terrorist attacks. Here are a few significant attacks on the ‘city of dreams’.

1993 March 12: Mumbai Serial Blasts

A series of 13 blasts rocked various parts of Mumbai, claiming 257 lives and injuring more than 700 others. As per the Central Bureau of Investigation, the blasts were masterminded by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim with the help of his lieutenants Tiger Memon and Mohammed Dossa, allegedly at the instance of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI. Tiger’s brother Yakub Memon was convicted in the case and hanged to death in 2015.

2002 December 6: Bus Bombing

A bomb placed under the rear seat of a bus exploded near the busy Ghatkopar station in the suburbs of Mumbai. Police defused an unexploded bomb from another bus in Andheri. This was the first in a series of five bombings against the city within less than nine months. The police arrested several young men for the blast. All were acquitted in the subsequent trial.

2003: Mumbai Bombings

A series of bombings took place in Mumbai between January to August 2003. These bombings killed more than 60 people and significantly injured more than 150 people. In the months that followed, the Crime Branch of the state police would follow various threads of the investigation to Delhi, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

It was only on March 29, 2016, that the first verdict came in this case. Saquib Nachan, Former General Secretary of Students' Islamic Movement of Indian, was convicted of planting bombs, and Muzammil Ansari was convicted of transporting bombs, while eight others were convicted of involvement in the case.

2006 June 11: Train Bombings

On July 11, 2006, a series of seven bomb blasts occurred in the first-class compartments of seven suburban local trains of Mumbai between 6:23 p.m. and 6:29 p.m. The coordinated explosions led to the tragic loss of 187 lives and left approximately 824 people injured.

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Almost two decades after the deadly attack, the Bombay High Court has ruled that the prosecution failed to prove charges and dismissed the death and life sentences awarded by the Special Court in 2015. All 12 accused were acquitted.

2008 November 26-29: Mumbai attacks (the 26/11 attack)

Ten members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, carried out 12 shooting and bombing attacks over four days across Mumbai. A total of 175 people died, including nine of the attackers, and more than 300 were injured. Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving attacker, was captured by Mumbai Police. Kasab was convicted of all 86 charges on 3 May 2010 and hanged on November 21, 2012.

2011 July 13: Mumbai Bombings

The 2011 Mumbai bombings, also known as 13/7, were a series of three coordinated bomb explosions at different locations in Mumbai on July 13, 2011, between 6.54 pm and 7.06 pm at Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar West localities, that left 26 dead and 130 injured. The banned outfit Indian Mujahideen is believed to have carried out the attack with the personal involvement of its co-founder, Yasin Bhatkal. He was arrested and given the death sentence in 2013. Other conspirators were also arrested and trails against many of them are still underway.

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