1993 Mumbai Blasts: Abu Salem handed lifer by TADA court

Mumbai: A special TADA court handed life imprisonment to Abu Salem holding him guilty of murder and supply of arms in 1993 Mumbai Blasts case. He was also fined Rs 2 Lakh along with his another aide Karimullah Khan who also received the same punishment in the case on Thursday.

The Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act Judge G A Sanap had on June 16 convicted six accused - Abu Salem who was extradited from Portugal in 2005, Mustafa Dossa, who was deported from the UAE, Mohammed Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Takla, Karimullah Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui and Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan. Subsequently, the court pronounced the judgement on Thursday.

According to the prosecution, Abu Salem, one of the main conspirators of the heinous crime, had been charged with procuring and supplying the arms and ammunition including AK-47 assault rifles, bullets and hand grenades, from Gujarat to Mumbai in early 1993.

Karimullah Khan was pronounced guilty of smuggling the explosives into the country through the Shekhadi Port in Raigad, while Siddiqui and Feroze Khan were guilty of transporting the explosives to the targeted sites.

It could be mentioned that over 257 people were killed and injured over 700.

The judgement:

Abu Salem: Lifer (25 years) with Rs 2 lakh fine.

Tahir Merchant: Hang till death.

Feroz Khan: Hang till death.

Riyaz Siddiqui: 10 years imprisonment.

Karimullah Khan: Life Imprisonment.

Meanwhile, another prime accused, Abdul Qayyum, was acquitted of all the major charges. Qayyum was arrested on February 13, 2007.

All the seven were acquitted of the serious charge of "waging war against the nation". The seven were present before Special Judge Sanap when the verdict was read out in the open court.

Public Prosecutor says:

• Convicts will get set-off for the time they have served in jail.
• The Special Judge also slapped varying amounts of fines on the convicts after finding them guilty on various charges, including murder, conspiracy to hatch the blasts, supplying arms and ammunition, and other serious offences.

Also read:

Abu Salem, five others held guilty in 1993 Mumbai blasts, one acquitted

The conviction:

The Special TADA court had convicted 100 out of 123 accused, including Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, who was hanged on July 30, 2015.

The accused are individually or jointly held guilty of the major charges, comprising conspiracy hatched in 15 meetings in different places including Dubai, creating terror, supplying arms and ammunition, killing, damage to public and private properties, in the blasts carried out at 13 prime locations.

Take a look at:

1993 blasts convict Mustafa Dossa dies of heart attack

The prosecution said that members of the Dawood gang along with their local henchmen Tiger Memon, the Dossa brothers and others hatched a conspiracy to carry out the terror acts.

Dossa, along with Tiger and another Mafiosi Chhota Shakeel, had organized training camps in India and Pakistan and had sent the men from India via Dubai. He has been held guilty of conspiracy and arranging the landing of the explosives along with his associates in Raigad, of around 3,000 kg RDX which was used in the explosions.

At the end of a marathon trial lasting over 13 years, in September 2006, 12 accused were awarded the death sentence, of which 10 were commuted to life by the Supreme Court later. Another 20 accused were given life sentence.

All the six accused were earlier pronounced "guilty" by the Special Court on June 16, including Mustafa Dossa, who died on June 28.

You may read:

Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as the new Defence Minister

Sanjay Dutt's conviction:

Dutt, who was let off the terrorism charges but tried and convicted under the Arms Act, served his full sentence and was released from jail in February 2016.

Merchant arranged for the others involved to travel to Pakistan via Dubai for training, while Qayyum - now acquitted -- was accused of supplying weapons along with Salem to Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt.

The quantum of Sentence:

The much-awaited verdict on the quantum of sentencing came 24 years after the March 12, 1993 serial blasts and nearly 80 days after they were found guilty (on June 16) by the Special Court.

On a quiet afternoon of March 12, 1993, the country's commercial capital was shattered by a series of 13 blasts in quick succession at various locations in the city and suburbs, creating the worst unprecedented mayhem in the country, killing 257 and injuring 700 others.

The prime targets included the Air India Building, Bombay Stock Exchange, Zaveri Bazar, then existing five star hotels, Hotel SeaRock and Hotel Juhu Centaur, and others leading to damage to public and private properties worth Rs 27 crore.

On the afternoon of March 12, 1993, the country's commercial capital was rocked by a series of 13 blasts in quick succession at various locations in the city and suburbs, creating the worst unprecedented mayhem in the country.

The prime targets included the Air India Building, Bombay Stock Exchange, Zaveri Bazar, then existing five star hotels, Hotel SeaRock and Hotel Juhu Centaur, and others leading to damage to public and private properties worth Rs 27 crore.

For perpetrating their heinous acts, the conspirators acquired and smuggled deadly arms and ammunition, detonators, hand grenades and nearly three tonnes of the deadly RDX (Research & Development Explosive - or Cyclotrimethylene Trinitramine), which was used for the first time after World War II on such a scale.