1993 blast: CBI to present list of witnesses

Mumbai, Apr 6: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will tomorrow file the list of witnesses in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case trials to be conducted separately to try Mustafa Dossa alias Mustafa Majnu.

It may be recalled that after convicting 100 accused in the first phase of trials in the 1993 blasts case, the court had decided to conduct seperate trials for Dossa, extradiated gangster Abu Salem and his two accomplices Riyaz Siddiqui and Abdul Qauum Ansari. Designated TADA court judge P D Kode had last week turned down a CBI plea to club together the trials of Salem, Dossa and the two others. After conclusion of Dossa's trial, the court will conduct trials of Salem, Riyaz Siddiqui and Abdul Qauum Ansari. Among the hundred, who were convicted by the court last year, are the members of the Memon family who had masterminded the blasts and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt.

However, Dossa, Salem and the two others were arrested by the CBI after conclusion of the main trial and, hence, they will be tried separately. After CBI furnishes the list of witnesses tomorrow, the court will issue summons, marking the commencement of Dossa's trial. According to legal experts, Dossa's trial is likely to conclude within a month's time as there are only few witnesses.

Dossa, is accused of actively participating in the blasts' conspiracy and also for his involvement in the landing of weapons in Raigad district prior to the blasts on March 12, 1993 that had left 257 people dead and 574 injured.

UNI