The Bombay High Court has granted bail to Kafeel Ahmed Mohammed Ayub, arrested in the 2011 Mumbai triple blasts that killed 27 people. Ayub, in custody since 2012, was released on a Rs 1 lakh surety after spending over a decade in jail.
Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Kafeel Ahmed Mohammed Ayub, a 65-year-old man who was arrested in connection with the 2011 Mumbai triple blasts that killed 27 people and injured more than 120 others.
A division bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and R.R. Bhonsale passed the order, allowing Ayub’s bail on a surety of Rs 1 lakh. A detailed copy of the court’s order is yet to be released.
Ayub, a resident of Bihar, has been in custody since February 2012 and is currently lodged in the Mumbai Central prison.
He was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) for his alleged involvement in the serial blasts that struck Zaveri Bazaar, Opera House, and Dadar Kabutarkhana near the railway station — all within a span of ten minutes — on July 13, 2011.
According to the ATS, the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen was behind the coordinated explosions. The agency alleged that Yasin Bhatkal, the founder of the Indian Mujahideen, was the main conspirator in the case.
The prosecution also claimed that Ayub and other accused persons had
“indoctrinated Muslim youths to carry out terror acts at the behest of the Indian Mujahideen”
and that Ayub was “in close contact with Bhatkal” during the planning and execution of the attacks.
Ayub’s lawyer, Advocate Mubin Solkar, argued before the court that his client had been
“languishing in jail for over a decade, with the trial still on.”
Solkar pointed out that despite Ayub’s long incarceration, the prosecution had failed to complete the trial, violating his client’s right to a speedy trial under the law.
Ayub has consistently maintained his innocence, asserting that he has been “implicated in the case” without credible evidence.
He further stated that
“the prosecution has no evidence against him except his own confession”, which, according to him, “was not given voluntarily.”
Ayub had earlier approached the Bombay High Court after a special court in 2022 had rejected his bail plea. With the new order of the High Court granting him bail, Ayub is expected to be released after completing the necessary formalities.
The case continues to be one of Mumbai’s most tragic terror incidents, and the detailed reasoning behind the High Court’s bail decision will become clearer once the court’s written order is made available.
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