7/11 blasts verdict: Better late than never, says commuters

Mumbai: Several suburban railway commuters on Wednesday welcomed the verdict in 2006 Mumbai train blasts case but felt that the punishment for the dastardly act came too late.

"This justice is a bit delayed, but not denied. Our judiciary has given a message to all that whosoever are guilty of such heinous crimes, won't be spared. I hope that now the departed souls (victims) are at peace," said chartered accountant and Western Railway (WR) commuter Nagesh Dubey.

Echoing same sentiment, fashion designer Sajida Noorani said that those who killed 189 people without any reason "have no right to live" and wished that all the 12 convicted in the case would have got death penalty.

Another WR commuter and sub-broker in the stock market here, Pramod Harlalka said, "Had the verdict come in the first few months of the blasts, then it would have acted as a deterrent. I think the judgement should have come earlier."

Terming the sentencing as "better late than never", suburban passengers' representative in WR, Rajiv Singal said, (all) these are those people who should not be getting less than capital punishment."

Divya Trivedi, another WR commuter questioned the "callous" approach of the government to deal with such terror acts and said, "Now time has come when government should come out with such a provision that it gives punishment to the traitors like this instantly. There is no point in hanging only a few conspirators while rest of them are let to live."

The 7/11 serial bombings that ripped through Mumbai trains had left 189 people dead and 829 injured after seven RDX bombs blew up as many peak hour suburban trains on the Western Railway in a span of 10 minutes in 2006.

Today, nine years after the tragedy, a special MCOCA court here sentenced five of the 12 convicted in the case to death while the remaining were awarded life imprisonment.