Twin taxi bombings in Mumbai killed 54 and injured 244, targeting a major tourist landmark and a commercial market.
Key Facts
- Deaths
- 54
- Injured
- 244
- Bomb locations
- Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar
- Suspects arrested
- 3 arrested on 31 August 2003
- Sentences
- All three convicted and sentenced to death in 2009
- Alleged perpetrator
- Lashkar-e-Taiba (Pakistan-based)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Haneef Sayyed was recruited in Dubai by Pakistani nationals affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, reportedly motivated by a desire to avenge anti-Muslim riots in India. His wife Fahmeeda assisted in planning and target selection, while Ashrat Ansari was tasked with physically planting the devices.
On 25 August 2003, two bombs concealed in parked taxis exploded simultaneously during the lunch hour in Mumbai. One device detonated at the Gateway of India, a prominent tourist site, and the other at Zaveri Bazaar, a jewellery market near the Mumba Devi temple in central Mumbai.
The blasts killed 54 people and injured 244 others. Three suspects were arrested within days and subsequently convicted by a special POTA court in August 2009, receiving death sentences that were upheld by the Bombay High Court in February 2012.