2006 Mumbai serial train blast convict dies of Covid-19

The 51-year-old 2006 Mumbai serial train blasts convict, Kamaal Ahmed Mohammed Vakil Ansari, died af ter he contracted Covid19 in the Nagpur Central Prison. Ansari died at the Nagpur government hospital on Monday af ter 10 days of hospitalization including the last few days on ventilator support. Ansari’s family has now alleged that the Nagpur Central Prison authorities informed them about his illness only a day before he died. Ansari’s brother Jamaal Ansari, who lives in Bihar, said he had spoken with his elder brother on April 2 through a video call. “He told me to take care of my mother and sister.” Jamaal said that his brother had not told him anything about his being unwell. Jamaal is now reached Nagpur after learning about his brother’s death. The family claims that it was through a WhatsApp group that they learnt about Kamaal having tested positive for the virus and was hospitalised. A person acquitted in the 7/11 Mumbai serial train blasts had asked people to pray for Kamaal’s health.

“I called the jail on Friday when got to know about it and asked to speak with him. They said that he was hospitalized but was doing fine. They could not let us speak with him, they said,” said Jamal. Jamal added that he has now learnt that his brother had been in hospital for ten days before he passed away. Nagpur Central Jail superintendent Anup Kumar Kumre said that Ansari was tested on April 8 as he showed symptoms of cold and cough and as a precautionary measure, he was admitted the next day in hospital. “We did not inform the family because his positive report had not come,” said Kumre. Kumre said Ansari had been on oxygen support for quite some time and on a ventilator since three to four days before his death. He negated allegations that the jail had not informed the family when he was hospitalized and said that a doctor had spoken to the family about his condition. “We had told them to come if they can,” he said. On September 30, 2015, Ansari, along with five others, was sentenced to death for murder under IPC, and under relevant sections of the UAPA, Explosives Act and MCOCA for having allegedly transported a Pakistani national from Nepal border to Mumbai, for procuring explosive materials, and for planting a bomb in a train which exploded at Matunga police station and also for having undergone terrorist training in Pakistan.