Nagpur/Amravati: Two of the three prisoners convicted in the 2006 Mumbai suburban train bombings were released from Nagpur Central Jail on Monday evening following their acquittal by the Bombay High Court earlier in the day. Another four convicted in the same case were simultaneously released from Amravati central prison.The men — Ehtesham Qutubuddin Siddiqui and Mohammad Ali Alam Sher Sheikh — spent more than 17 years behind bars. A third inmate, Naved Hussain Rashid Hussain Khan, remains in custody in connection with a separate case, jail superintendent Vaibhav Agey confirmed to TOI. The four released from a jail in Amravati, 155km off Nagpur, include Mohammad Majid Mohammad Shafi (51), Jamir Ahmad Latifur Rehman Sheikh (55), Tanveer Ahmad Mohammad Ibrahim Ansari (56) and Sohail Mehmood Sheikh (52).The High Court’s acquittal of all 12 accused brought a dramatic end to one of the most closely watched terrorism trials in the country, stemming from the July 11, 2006, bombings on Mumbai’s suburban train network. The attacks killed over 180 people and injured more than 800. The case drew criticism over the alleged custodial torture and lack of forensic evidence against the accused.Siddiqui and Khan were sentenced to death, while Sheikh was serving a life term. Another key accused, Kamal Ansari — listed as Accused No. 1 — died in April 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, while still in Nagpur jail. The released prisoners were arrested in 2006, shortly after the blasts, and remained incarcerated till Monday’s judgment.Following the verdict pronounced in Mumbai by Justice Anil Kilor, the new administrative judge of Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court, Siddiqui and Sheikh were released quietly through a side gate, avoiding the waiting media. They were then flown to Mumbai on an Indigo flight from Nagpur airport.Jail authorities confirmed that under updated Supreme Court guidelines, an accused can now be released on the basis of a digitally signed judgment, eliminating the need to wait for a hard copy. “We only need approval from the High Court’s local office. Warrants from the sessions court are required only in bail cases,” a jail official clarified.During their incarceration, Siddiqui enrolled in a law degree course through Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University and is now in the final semester of his LLB. Khan started a BA course but did not complete it. All three actively used the Right to Information (RTI) Act to file applications challenging prison rules, legal procedures, and lack of academic access.The high court noted in its ruling that all four accused alleged custodial torture at the hands of Mumbai ATS and later retracted their confessions in court. Each of the acquitted individuals was directed to execute a personal bond of ₹25,000 under Section 481 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, for future court appearances in the event of an appeal by the state in the Supreme Court.
