2006 Mumbai train blasts: ‘ATS ruined my life,’ says doctor out of prison after 19 years | Mumbai News
MUMBAI: “I was part of the Red Crescent Society of India team that worked during the Bhuj earthquake in 2001. My job is to save lives, not to kill people…” said Dr Tanvir Ansari (50), who spent 19 years in prison, and was released from Amravati jail on Monday after Bombay high court acquitted him and 11 others in the 11/7 Mumbai train bombing cases.A resident of Agipada, Ansari was termed a conspirator in the bombing case. “…We are also victims of terrorism. The investigation by ATS is injustice to us and to those who died and were injured. The real perpetrators are still free,” Ansari told TOI at Jamiat-ul-Ulema-Hind’s office at Dongri on Thursday. “We are with those who lost their loved ones or were injured in the blast.”Ansari was in charge of the ICU at Saboo Siddique Hospital in south Mumbai. Talking about the saddest days in prison, he said, “I couldn’t treat my own mother who was admitted to our hospital’s ICU. She passed away in 2007. The ATS tortured us and threatened our families. I was hit with sticks and chappals. The ATS offered me Rs 25 lakh and a flat to become an approver. I refused. I had no involvement in the blasts case,” Ansari said, tears rolling down his cheeks.His wife was three months pregnant when he was arrested. Ansari got the news of the birth of his daughter while he was in jail. “I held my daughter in my arms a year and half after she was born. My wife went through so many difficulties, and my daughter was raised without me for 19 years,” he said, going on to add with pride that his daughter wants to study medicine.“Crime branch officers dragged me from the hospital, tore my apron, and kept me in illegal custody for several days in 2006. The ATS showed me as ‘arrested’ later.” He further said, “We were subjected to narco, brain-mapping, and lie-detector tests, but ATS didn’t find anything in the tests. It wanted to show everyone that they were doing scientific probes, but it was just to cover their fake investigation.”While in prison, Ansari completed a certificate course in disaster management, completed his BA and MA degrees in political science. “I want to tell the ATS that you have ruined my life, now you help me get a job,” said Ansari, who worked as an assistant in Amravati jail’s hospital and treated patients during 2022 and 2024.A case had also been registered against him in 2001 for his alleged association with the banned organisation SIMI. He pointed out that he had been acquitted in this case in 2012.
