An Indian court sentenced five men to death on Wednesday for a series of bomb blasts that ripped through packed trains in Mumbai in 2006, killing nearly 200 people and injuring many more.
Another seven people found guilty of involvement in the attacks in
India’s financial capital were sentenced to life imprisonment by the special court, their defence lawyer told reporters.
The 12 men were convicted of murder, conspiracy and waging war
against the country over the coordinated attacks that killed 189 people and wounded more than 800.
Defence lawyer Wahab Khan said all 12 would appeal the verdict.
“We still believe they have been framed and the court has relied on
confessions and not on mitigating evidence,” he told reporters outside the
court.
The bombs were packed into pressure cookers and then placed in bags
and hidden under newspapers and umbrellas in the trains.
The seven blasts ripped through the suburban trains during the
evening rush hour on 11 July 2006.
“Many families lost their breadwinners that day and this judgement
brings some amount of relief,” Mahendra Pitale, who lost his left hand during one of the explosions, told AFP.