India, July 21 -- Nineteen years after a series of coordinated blasts tore through Mumbai's suburban railway network, killing 187 people and injuring over 800, the Bombay High Court on Monday acquitted all 12 men who were convicted in the case.

A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court had sentenced five of them to death and the remaining seven to life imprisonment in 2015.

The division bench of Justice Anil Kilor and Justice Shyam C Chandak said, "The prosecution has utterly failed to prove the case against the accused. It is hard to believe that the accused committed the crime. Hence, their conviction is quashed and set aside."

The court was also critical of how key pieces of evidence-including explosives and...