Convicted son of convict-father pleads for leniency

Mumbai, Sep 29 (UNI) Sarfaraz Phanse, held guilty yesterday of aiding and abetting the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts, today pleaded for leniency on the ground that his father Dawood, too, had been held quilty and is in jail and he is the only son to support his old and ailing mother.

Dawood Phanse, the 82-year-old father of Sarfraz, besides being held guilty of the same charge, was also convicted on September 22 by the TADA judge Pramod Kode of the charge of attending a meeting in Dubai where the conspiracy was hatched by India's most wanted terrorist and Mumbai underworld don Dawood Ibrahim.

The father-son duo were declared guilty of faciliating smuggling and landing of arms, ammunition and RDX along Shekhadi coast in Raigard district on February 3 and 7, 1993. The arsenal was used in triggering multiple blasts that that killed 257 people in India's worst terror attack in the country's commercial and entertainment capital on March 12, 1993.

Recording his statement on the quantum of punishment today, 40-year-old unmarried Sarfraz said he was also suffering from multiple aiments and is under treatment, adding he had been granted bail for two and a half years on medical ground during the trial.

His father, while accepting his guilt on Monday, too, had pleaded for leniency, saying '' I want to die at home instead of in jail.'' Dawood Phanse , who has become the first convict in the case to accept his guilt, said '' I accept my mistake and apologies for it''. He begged for pardon while recording his statement on the quantum of punishment.

Meanwhile, the statement of Mushtaq Tarani, convicted on Wedenesday, could not be recorded today as he was not brought to the court on ground of ill health.

He was found guilty of all the 12 charges slapped against him, including planting an RDX-laden bag in room of hotel Centaur in which three people were wounded and an RDX-laden scooter at Shaikh Memon Street in south Mumbai which, however, did not explode.

He also found guilty of participating in a conspiracy meeting at hotel Taj Mahal where targets were selected.

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