10 years of 2011 Mumbai bombings, blasts that shook India

Ten years ago on this day, Mumbai ‘the city of dreams’ turned into a tragic nightmare. In 11 minutes, three bomb blasts rocked the economic capital, killing at least 25 people and injuring more than 125 others.

The three coordinated bomb explosions occurred at the jewellery street of Zaveri Bazaar, the posh Opera House district and the populated middle-class neighbourhood of Dadar, between 18:54 and 19:06 IST, killing 26 people and injuring over 130.

Since the early 1990s, Mumbai has been targeted by terrorists multiple times.

18:54 IST – 19:06 IST (11 minutes)

At 18:54, the first bomb exploded in Zaveri Bazaar, a densely populated area of workplaces connected with the diamond-trade industry, where the device was planted on a motorcycle. The second device was planted in a tiffin box in the upscale Opera House locality and exploded at 18:55. The third device was placed on an electric pole at a bus stand in a school area in Dadar and exploded at 19:06.

In the first week of August 2011, Home Ministry classified the bomb blasts as a terrorist act and dispatched a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to the bomb site. Investigations suggested the use of multiple IED explosives in the blasts.

Following this,  Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) nabbed a person who, the agency claimed, had stolen the two-wheeler used for the bombing at Zaveri Bazaar. The suspect was caught on CCTV parking the stolen vehicle at the blast spot and later walking away.

Two suspects in Bihar’s Darbhanga district were arrested and Mumbai police claimed to have solved the case on January 23, 2012. The arrested were identified as Nadeem Akhtar Ashfaq Sheikh (23) and Naqi Ahmed Wasi Ahmed Sheikh (22).

The ATS unit of the Mumbai Police declared that Yasin Bhatkal, the co-founder of the Indian Mujaheddin, was the mastermind of the terror attack. Further, the ATS filed a charge sheet against Naqee Ahmed, Nadeem Shaikh, Kanwar Pathrija and Haroon Naik, all under arrest.

In July 2014, Mumbai ATS arrested Abdul Mateen Fakki from Goa’s Dabolim Airport, when he arrived from Dubai by flight. He was accused of transferring money to Yasin Bhatkal through Hawala mode for the operation.