India, Feb. 1 -- Nearly two decades after a series of seven powerful blasts on local trains on July 11, 2006 killed 209 people, an accused who has spent 19 years behind bars on Friday claimed before the Bombay high court that he was innocent.

"Innocent people should not be hanged because innocent people died (in the blasts)," Naveed Hussain Khan, who appeared from Nagpur jail via videoconferencing, told the division bench of justices Anil Kilor and Shyam C Chandak.

The special bench had assembled on Friday for clearing any possible queries before pronouncing its verdict on the five death sentence confirmation pleas and appeals of various accused convicted for their role in the serial blasts.

During the hearing, the judges granted a bri...