REPEATED TARGET OF TERROR

THE METROPOLIS HAS OFTEN BEEN THE TARGET OF TERRORISM SINCE THE SERIAL BLASTS OF 1993


MARCH 12,1993: MUMBAI SERIAL BLASTS

Blasts organized by underworld gangsters hiding in Pakistan kill the most people in a single terror attack on the city.Fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim and the absconding Tiger Memon are among the main accused.Deadly RDX bombs go off at 11 places,including the Bombay Stock Exchange,Narsi Natha Street (Katha Bazaar),Lucky Petrol Pump (opposite Sena Bhavan),Zaveri Bazar,Century Bazar (Worli),Air India Building (Nariman Point),Centaur Hotel (Santa Cruz),Naigaum Cross Road,Centaur Hotel (Juhu),Sea Rock Hotel (Bandra) and Plaza Cinema (Dadar).There are also two grenade attacks at Machchimar Nagar,Mahim and in the airport area

Dead:  257 | Injured: 713 | Losses:  Rs 27 crore

Case:
The mammoth trial starts on June 30,1995 and takes over 13 years to complete.123 stand trial and 100 are found guilty;12 get death and 20 lifer.32 remain absconding,mainly in Pakistan.The death-row inmates have approached the Supreme Court.The CBI has appealed against over 40 acquittals under Tada


1998 BLASTS

Bombs go off at Kanjurmarg station on January 23,on the Goregaon and Malad tracks on January 24 and near Virar station,Santa Cruz station and Kandivli station on February 27

Dead:  4 | Injured: Over 30

Case:  11,including 2 Pakistanis,get lifers


DECEMBER 2,2002: FIRST GHATKOPAR BLAST

An ammonium nitrate bomb rips through a BEST bus outside Ghatkopar station

Dead: 2 | Injured: 49

Case: All 8 are acquitted,but the state has appealed in the Bombay High Court


DECEMBER 6,2002: MUMBAI CENTRAL BLAST

Blast at a fast-food joint at the station

Dead:  None |  Injured: 25

Case: 16 face charges;a MCOCA judge has to be appointed


JANUARY 27,2003: VILE PARLE BLAST

Ammonium nitrate bomb goes off at Vile Parle

Dead: 1 | Injured: 20

Case: Same as Mumbai Central blast.


MARCH 13,2003: MULUND BLAST

Ammonium nitrate bomb goes off at Mulund on a Karjat-bound train

Dead: 11 |  Injured: 70

Case: Same as Mumbai Central blast


JULY 28,2003: SECOND GHATKOPAR BLAST

Ammonium nitrate bomb goes off on a BEST bus

Dead: 4 | Injured: 32

Case: Trial is pending


AUGUST 25,2003: TWIN BLASTS

Black Monday at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazar.RDX bombs go off in two taxis.It is the second time powerful RDX is used after the 1993 serial explosions

Dead: 52 | Injured: Over 100

Case:
Pota court sentences Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives Ashrat Ansari,Hanif Sayed and Sayeds wife
Fahmida to death.Ansari has appealed to the Bombay High Court,which has to uphold the death sentences.


JULY 11,2006: 11/7 BLASTS

7 RDX and ammonium nitrate bombs rip through 7 first-class local train coaches.The bombs go off at Khar,Bandra,Jogeshwari,Mahim,Borivli,Matunga and Mira-Bhayander in a span of 7 minutes

Dead: 188 | Injured: 817 | Losses: Rs 85.61 cr

Case:
13 men with Simi links face the death penalty in a trial underway in a MCOCA court.15 others,mainly Pakistanis,are absconding.The trial begins in December 2007,but is stalled twice before it resumes in
April 2010 on orders from the apex court.


NOVEMBER 26-29,2008: 26/11 ATTACKS

Ten ISI-backed,LeT gunmen reach Mumbai from Karachi via sea and attack high-profile locations,like Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus,the Taj,Oberoi-Trident and Chhabad House.RDX bombs are also set off outside and in the Taj,near Nariman House and in two taxis.One of the deadliest attacks on Mumbai goes on for 60 hours,until 1 terrorist is arrested and 9 are killed

Dead: 166 | Injured: Over 300

Case:
On February 21,2011 the Bombay High Court upholds the death sentence given to the lone arrested gunman,Ajmal Kasab.Kasab has appealed to the Supreme Court.35 accused remain absconding,including the LeTs Hafeez Sayeed and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.A related trial drags on in Pakistan,having resumed in July with a new judge hearing the case against Lakhvi and six others.

Source:- Times of India