Amlendu Bhushan Bhan
NEW DELHI / MUMBAI : The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court on Thursday sentenced to Down Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan were jailed for life in Mumbai serial of bomb blast case in 1993, that killed 257 people and more than 700 injured in India’s financial capital. The court sentenced Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan and Taher Merchant to death. A fifth man, Riyaz Siddiqui, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
One suspect in the case, Yakub Memon, was hanged in 2015.
Investigators said the bombs were ordered by India’s most wanted man, gangster Dawood Ibrahim, to avenge the demolition of the historic Babri mosque in north India by Hindu hardliners in 1992, during a period of religious conflict.
Ibrahim is believed to be hiding in Pakistan. Pakistan denies that.
In June, a court had ruled the five guilty of involvement in the blasts that shook India’s financial hub more than two decades ago. A six man also found guilty at that time died in prison before sentencing.
On March 12, 1993, there were 13 explosions at prominent areas of the city in the space of 140 minutes.
Salem was convicted by the court for transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai in the build-up to the blasts. He had handed over the weapons to actor Sanjay Dutt, who served a jail term for illegally possessing weapons at his residence on January 16, 1993.
The court had dropped certain charges against Salem in 2013 after the CBI moved a plea stating that the charges were against the extradition treaty between India and Portugal.
Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2004 on the assurance by the Indian government that a death penalty will not be handed out to him in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.
Karumullah Khan had ensured the arrival of RDX at Shekhadi in coastal Maharashtra. The 1993 blast was the first terror attack on Indian soil in which RDX was used as the explosive material, reported News 18.
The first bomb exploded at 1:30 pm inside a car parked at the basement of the Bombay Stock Exchange. The series of car and scooter blasts continued till 3.40 pm at many locations in the city.
In June, Salem and five other accused – Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Tahir Merchant, Riaz Siddiqui and Karimullah – had been held guilty by the special TADA court in relation to the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The other blast locations include the Fisherman’s Colony in Mahim causeway, Zaveri Bazaar, Plaza Cinema, Century Bazaar, Katha Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, the Air India Building, Hotel Juhu Centaur, Worli and the Passport Office. Grenades were lobbed at Sahar Airport.
The mastermind behind the blasts, underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and the prime accused, Tiger Memon, also a close associate of Karumullah Khan, remain absconding.
