At the Jaripatka Qabrastan in Nagpur on Sunday morning, a solemn gathering remembered Kamal Ahmed Vakil Ahmed Ansari, one of the Muslim men falsely accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case, who died in custody four years before the Bombay High Court acquitted him of all charges.
In the 2006 Mumbai train blast case, 12 Muslim men were convicted in 2015 by a special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court, with five, including Ansari, sentenced to death. On July 21, 2025, the Bombay High Court overturned all convictions and acquitted all 12, citing unreliable evidence, questionable witness identification, and flawed confessions. Ansari had breathed his last in prison while the High Court hearing was still underway.
Led by Dr Abdul Wahid Shaikh, General Secretary of Innocence Network, and Qari Sabir, President of Jamiat-e-Ulama Nagpur, the delegation which included Kamal Ahmed’s younger brother Jamal Ahmed Ansari from Delhi, family members, activists, and community leaders visited his grave.
At the graveside, the court’s judgment, delivered on 21 July 2025 (para no.1486), acquitting him of all charges, was read aloud.
The act was described as a public affirmation of what Kamal Ahmed had always maintained: he was innocent.
Kamal Ahmed, a poor daily-wage worker from Madhubani, Bihar, ran a small chicken shop, sold vegetables, and struggled to provide for his wife and five children. His life was shattered when the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrested him, branded him a “terrorist,” and charged him in the blasts case. For 16 years, he remained behind bars, his family stigmatised and his pleas unheard.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.