Five more convicted in 1993 Mumbai blasts case

Mumbai, Sep 29: The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention Act) court here today convicted five more 1993 serial blasts accused, charged with receiving training in handling of deadly arms and ammunition in Pakistan prior to the blasts which rocked the metropolis in 1993.

Special TADA judge P D Kode, pronouncing the final verdict today, found the accused Gul Mohammed Noor Mohammed Shaikh, Shaikh Ibrahim Shaikh Hussain, Mohammed Usman Shaikh, Shaikh Usman Man Khan and Mohammed Sayed Mohammed Ishaq - guilty of participating in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts conspiracy by going to Pakistan via Dubai for arms training.

The five were found guilty under Section 120b (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 3 (3) of TADA (P) (aiding and abetting terrorist acts). Following their conviction, they were taken into custody and their bail bonds were cancelled.

According to the Central Bureau of Intelligence - from January 22 to March three, 1993, the accused persons visited Dubai and attended the meeting. where the conspiracy was hatched. After that, they went to Pakistan where they participated in the training camp organised by prime absconding accused Tiger Memon and others, where they were trained to handle deadly arms and ammunition.

Judge Kode, while convicting them, held that the accused persons were not involved in the inner circle of the conspiracy in which absconding accused and key accused had participated. The court said that the confessional statement made by the accused, which was later retracted by them, was accepted by the court following the collaborative evidences and other materials produced before the court.

Reacting to the conviction, defence team lead by Advocate Farhana Shah said that though it was proved that the accused had undergone training of handling arms and ammunition in Pakistan but the prosecution has failed to prove that the accused participated in the bomb blasts. She claimed that training received was not utilised by the accused.

Earlier, 20 people, including four members of Memon family, were found guilty in the case.

UNI