Bombay HC grants bail to 2011 Mumbai triple blasts case accused, 14 years after his arrest

On July 13, 2011, three explosions rocked Dadar, Zaveri Bazaar, and Opera House in Mumbai, claiming 27 lives and injuring more than 100 others. The investigating agency charged 11 individuals in connection with the blasts, including suspected operatives of the outlawed terror group Indian Mujahideen (IM), for plotting the attacks in central and south Mumbai.

The accused were booked by Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) under charges related to criminal conspiracy, murder, attempt to murder, causing hurt, and under relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Earlier, in November 2025, the high court had granted bail to another accused in the case, Kafeel Ahmed, 65, nearly 13 years after his arrest.

One of the accused, Kawal Pthreja, an alleged hawala operator, died during the pendency of the trial. Yasin Bhatkal, a key IM operative facing the death penalty for the Hyderabad blasts, is among those charged in the triple blasts case.

On October 30, 2023, another bench of the high court had asked the trial court to expedite proceedings pending since 2012 and conclude the case within a year. The court mandated the special MCOCA court to hold regular hearings.

The ATS had first arrested Ahmed and Shaikh, alleging that they led the agency to a rented house in Byculla, where the bombs were allegedly assembled. Ahmed allegedly led them to duplicate keys of the rented house, along with the keys of two stolen scooters reportedly used in the blast.

As per the ATS, Bhatkal had taken the house on rent with Ahmed and Shaikh’s help. The money used in the conspiracy was sent on the instructions of another accused, Haroon Naik, through hawala transactions and Zainul Abideen, another accused, had purchased the material for the blast and kept the same at his house, the ATS claimed.