2006 Mumbai blasts: All convicts acquitted

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

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2006 Mumbai blasts: All convicts acquitted

The Bombay High Court has acquitted 12 Muslim men convicted for participating in a series of bombings on a train back in 2006. The acquittals once again put the spotlight on police torture—especially in cases that have a communal angle.

The backstory: On the evening of July 11 2006, seven bombs exploded over an 11-minute period in local trains along the Western Line of Mumbai’s Suburban Railway network. The death toll: 189 with 824 injured. The ruling Congress state government immediately handed over the investigation to the state police’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

The suspects: The ATS identified 13 suspects—who were tried alongside fifteen who were absconding. Another two were deceased by the time of trial. According to the police, the men belonged to the banned terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba—and had received arms training in Pakistan. They placed bombs inside pressure cookers before planting them on the trains during peak commuter hours.

The trial: went on for eight years—at the end of which a special court designated for organised crimes awarded the death penalty to five men, life imprisonment to seven, and acquitted one. The 12 men challenged the verdict—moving the High Court. Hence, the ruling yesterday.

The ruling: On Monday, the High Court overturned all convictions. The reason offered did not mince words: “The prosecution has utterly failed in establishing the case beyond reasonable doubts. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime.” Every element of the so-called investigation proved flimsy:

The court noted the lack of conclusive evidence and inconsistencies in the prosecution’s case. It stated that the chain of circumstances was not complete and confessional statements were unreliable. Circumstantial evidence presented was not sufficient to link the accused to the actual planning or execution of the bombings.

Among the red flags: Although different deputy commissioners recorded identical “confessions” at different times—“evidence showed that the questions asked, answers provided and even the ellipsis in the statements were identical.”

More importantly this: The Court flagged the “barbaric and inhuman” use of torture—mentioned in notes submitted by the accused—and confirmed by doctors:

The alleged methods included splitting legs 180 degrees wide, tying individuals to a chair all night, denying food from morning to evening, and putting cockroaches in vests and rats in underwear amid a lot of beating.

The big picture: The guilty are still at large—even as the police put a convenient set of Muslim men in jail—and tortured them into submission. It is a travesty of justice for both the wrongly convicted and the victims of the bomb blasts.

Reading list: NewsLaundry is best on how the court ripped apart the prosecution’s case. Times of India has the most on the torture of the suspects. The Wire offers the most detailed history of the case.

A deadly aviation accident in Dhaka

Yesterday, a Bangladesh air force training jet crashed into a private school—Milestone School and College—in Dhaka. The pilot as well as 24 others—mostly students—were killed. Another 171—again students—have been injured. According to the military, the Chinese-made F-7 BGI training jet had a “technical malfunction” moments after takeoff. The pilot attempted to divert the plane to a less populated area but ended up crashing into the school.

Point to note: “The BGI was billed as the most advanced… when Bangladesh bought 36 of them in 2022.” The crash also marks the deadliest aviation accident in the country since the 1984 crash of a commercial flight that killed all 49 people on board. You can see the aftermath of the BGI crash below. Al Jazeera and Associated Press have more reporting on the accident.

Exercise is very good… but not for weight loss!

The context: The reasons for weight gain are not a mystery. But the best way to lose weight has birthed a sprawling industry of dieticians, pharmaceuticals and exercise gurus. We’ve known for a while that exercise alone cannot shed those pounds. The number of calories burned is way too small:

Take walking, for example. A 150-pound person who walks briskly for 30 minutes will burn, on average, around 140 calories. That’s equal to one can of soda—not exactly a great return on your investment of time and effort. It’s much easier just to skip the soda.

Hence, the gazillion diet fads inflicted on us each season.

What new research says: It confirms received wisdom—but in a whole new way. Researchers compared energy expenditure—basically, how many calories people burn—of people in 34 countries. They ranged from hunter-gatherers in Africa to desk workers in America. The findings:

Across the board, the total daily energy expenditures of the 4,213 people were quite similar, no matter where they lived or how they spent their lives. Although the hunter-gatherers and other similar groups moved around far more throughout the day than a typical American, their overall daily calorie burns were nearly the same.

In other words: the amount people move varies wildly—but total calories burned does not.

Here’s the interesting reason: why the caloric burn is about the same—irrespective of your daily lifestyle: Those hunters stalking prey in Africa do in fact exercise more—but their caloric burn levels out after a certain time:

If we start consistently burning extra calories by, for instance, stalking prey on foot for days or training for a marathon, our brains slow down or shut off some tangential biological operations, often related to growth, and our overall daily calorie burn stays within a consistent band.

The big picture: remains about the same. The real villain in weight gain is what and how much we put in our mouths:

We’re eating too much. We may also be eating the wrong kinds of foods, the study also suggests. In a sub-analysis of the diets of some of the groups from both highly and less-developed nations, the scientists found a strong correlation between the percentage of daily diets that consists of “ultra-processed foods”... and higher body-fat percentages.

In fact, the study estimates that the impact of increased calories on weight gain is 10X that of reduced physical activity. But, but, but: None of this changes the fact that exercise is very good for your mind and body—just not weight loss. (Washington Post, splainer gift link)

FDA panel throws fuel on HRT debate fire

The context: Menopause is when periods stop permanently when a woman is in her 50s. While some experience mild symptoms, it can be extremely uncomfortable, even painful for others. In fact, menopausal women often struggle at work due to hot flashes, exhaustion etc. Sexual activity is the most affected by dropping hormone levels. Hence, we now have HRT—or hormonal replacement therapy. These are pills, patches or topical creams that help boost plummeting levels of estrogen and progestin in menopausal women.

But, but, but: Since 2003, HRT pills have come with a black box warning of potential side effects—which includes increased risk of strokes, blood clots, dementia and cancer. Much like the birth control pill—HRT also manipulates hormone levels—and is even more controversial.

What happened now: Last week, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) panel called for removing the black box warning from “local, low-dose vaginal estrogen products.” These are typically creams. Their argument: The black box warning makes zero differentiation across products containing estrogen:

The label, which also warns of the possibility of breast cancer, is found on the packaging of transdermal patches, gels, sprays, vaginal inserts and oral medications, regardless of formulation, so long as they contain estrogen.

But, but, but: The worry is that the panel isn’t just eyeing topical creams—contrary to its claims. The members were selected by the FDA commissioner—Marty Makary—who is an ardent supporter of hormone therapy of all kinds. He even claims that HRT may “prevent cognitive decline, heart disease and some cancers with long-term use”—which is controversial.

Also this: His hand-picked panel included members of Let’s Talk Menopause—an advocacy group supported by Pfizer, Bayer and other pharmaceutical companies.

What the critics say: Makary’s claims are “one-sided”—based on weaker observational studies. Even those who advocate HRT are sceptical—like Adriane Fugh-Berman of Georgetown University:

‘While hormones can be a useful treatment for severe menopausal symptoms, they should not be used for chronic disease prevention,’ she added, noting that no randomised clinical trial — the gold standard of evidence — has found HRT beneficial for cognition or dementia prevention.

The big picture: The reality is that there simply isn’t enough research on menopause—or treatments to alleviate it. Women are mostly told to just deal with it. This added politicisation of HRT isn’t going to help—coming right when scientists are finally focusing on new forms of therapy. Nature has an excellent read on the new science of menopause. New York Times and Science News report on the FDA panel controversy.

what caught our eye

business & tech

TechCrunch has a good read on why even longtime Tesla fans in India—like one who prebooked a car back in 2016—aren’t planning to buy one now, despite the company finally opening its first showroom.
French prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation into Elon Musk’s X over claims it manipulated its algorithm and interfered in political matters.

sports & entertainment

Indian chess whiz R Praggnanandhaa beat the current World #1 and former five-time World Champion Magnus Carlsen twice in a week at the Las Vegas Freestyle event. Indian Express has more on why this feat is impressive.
Sad news for Mumbai film geeks… MAMI will not take place this year as the organisers are “revamping” the festival.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently admitted the studio prioritized quantity over quality—reflected in the recent flops across MCU movies and shows.

health & environment

About 70% of astronauts returning from the International Space Station have noticed their eyesight changing. NASA is looking into the why.
Amazon's carbon emissions have risen by 6% in 2024—for the first time in three years—due to construction of data centres and fuel consumption.
A NASA probe has found that Saturn’s largest moon Titan’s methane lakes could support life.

meanwhile, in the world

Israel is bombing Yemen now—its military says it hit Houthi-linked sites in Hodeidah used for launching drone and missile attacks.
A new Human Rights Watch report details systemic abuse at US migrant detention centres—including shackling, food deprivation, and denial of medical care.
Alaska Airlines has resumed operations hours after its entire fleet was grounded due to an IT outage.
An investigation into the deadly Jeju Air crash last December has found that the pilot shut off the wrong ‘less-damaged’ engine following a bird strike.
In a whole new low, a ‘violently racist’ hacker claims to be the source behind New York Times’ scoop about Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s college application.
Japanese PM Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to stay on in office after his ruling coalition suffered a bruising defeat in upper house elections.
Nearly 1 in 4 Gen Z workers say college wasn’t worth it, and about 1 in 5 say their degree hasn’t helped their career at all, according to a new survey.

meanwhile, in India

India’s Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has resigned, citing health concerns and the need to follow medical advice.
India is abstaining more than ever at the UN—with ‘yes’ votes at their lowest since 1955—amid a polarised global landscape, according to an analysis of over 5,500 resolutions by The Hindu.
A British F-35B fighter jet that’s been stuck at an airport in Kerala for over five weeks after a weather diversion and technical snag is finally set to take off on Tuesday.
India’s biggest direct tax overhaul in decades has inched closer to becoming law, as a parliamentary panel backed the draft Income Tax Bill 2025—while also greenlighting controversial powers for tax officials to access people’s private emails and social media during raids.

Two things to see

One: Last week, the Punjab Police’s X handle posted an AI-generated, Studio Ghibli-style image of an Indian policeman—kneeling on a man wrapped in Pakistan’s flag—in a scene that recreated the killing of George Floyd. The now-deleted image was captioned: “If you’re caught with this flag, be prepared to suffer the consequences.” (The Telegraph)

Two: The Indian cricket team met Manchester United at the club’s training centre on Sunday for a special photo op, jersey exchange and even a pick-up game—ahead of the fourth Test match at Old Trafford. Head coach Gautam Gambhir is a massive Man Utd fan but didn’t get to meet his fave Marcus Rashford—who has already left the club for Barcelona. See the promo vid here and the classic team photo below. (MoneyControl)