AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday sought to know whether Maharashtra government would take action against Anti-Terrorism Squad officers who investigated the serial train blasts of 2006, following the Bombay high court’s acquittal of all 12 accused.

"Twelve Muslim men were in jail for 18 years for a crime they didn’t commit. Their prime years are gone. The 180 families who lost loved ones, the many injured—there is no closure for them. Will the government take action against the Maharashtra ATS officers who investigated this case?" The Hyderabad MP wrote on X.

Owaisi alleged that the parties in power in Maharashtra in 2006 were also responsible for "disregarding complaints of torture." The AIMIM chief said, "innocent people are often jailed", and when acquitted years later, they are left with no path to rebuild their lives.

He further noted that the accused had not stepped out of jail even once in the 17 years since their arrest.

According to Owaisi, in high-profile cases that generate public outcry, the police tend to start investigations by "presuming guilt".

"In such cases, police officers hold press conferences, and the way the media reports on the case often shapes a narrative that declares the accused guilty," he said. "In many such terror cases, investigating agencies have failed us miserably.”

Shiv Sena Member of Parliament (MP), Milind Deora and said that the Maharashtra government should appeal against the verdict.

"As a Mumbaikar, I cannot accept the verdict of the Bombay High Court….I appeal to the Maharashtra government they involve the best lawyers of the country in this matter as soon as possible. And they should appeal against the verdict of the Bombay High Court as soon as possible," Deora said.

Minister and NCP leader Chhagan Bhujbal said the state government will study the verdict and it can approach the Supreme Court if it feels the need to do so.

Former Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief, K P Raghuvanshi, who headed the investigation into the blasts case, also said the state government should appeal against the Bombay high court judgement acquitting all 12 accused.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Raghuvanshi said, “I believe we had made a very strong case on the basis of which the trial court had convicted the accused. Now, ATS will examine the judgment, and in consultation with the PP (public prosecutor) and other legal experts, they will decide on the appeal. In my opinion, they should definitely appeal against the judgment.”

“We are pretty sure that we have done a good investigation and collected ample evidence; that’s the reason why the trial court had convicted the accused previously. I have been retired from ATS for more than 10 years. The current ATS chief’s team will examine the judgment and decide on the appeal. I believe they should appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court of India,” Raghuvanshi added.

On July 11, 2006, seven bomb blasts had ripped through separate Mumbai local trains within 11 minutes, killing over 180 people. Rigged pressure cookers were used for the bombings to amplify the damage caused.

In 2015, a trial court had convicted 12 accused, sentencing five of them to death and the others to life imprisonment.

The Bombay high court acquitted the accused, stating that the prosecution had "utterly failed" to prove its case and that it was "hard to believe they committed the crime."

Abdul Wahid Shaikh was one the 13 accused in the blast case. He was released in 2015 by a Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act court as the police couldn’t find any proof for the charges against him.

He claimed that police tortured him to confess the charges.

"From day one, we maintained our innocence. We were tortured, false statements were extracted, and fake recoveries were shown. All of this has now been proven wrong. It has been established that the ATS built a false case. I am happy that after 19 long years, this judgment has finally come, though delayed, it means those innocent individuals will now be released. My brother-in-law, Sajid Ansari, was also an accused in this case. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and is still in Nashik Jail. The court has now acquitted him too," he said to IANS.

In a damning indictment of the prosecution’s case, the high court declared all confessional statements of the accused as inadmissible suggesting "copying”.

Further eroding the credibility of the confessions, the court said the accused had successfully established that torture was inflicted upon them to extort these confessional statements.