Third woman accused acquitted in Mumbai blasts

Mumbai, Oct 3 (UNI) A designated TADA court today acquitted Ruksana Zariwala, wife of absconding accused Mohammed Shafi Zariwala while convicted Niyaz Ahmed Sheikh of charges for involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.

Ruksana, one of the six women among the total 123 accused who faced trial in the case, was acquitted by judge Pramod Kode, giving her benefit of doubt for want of sufficient evidence against her to prove charges of conspiracy and aiding and abetting the crime by transporting arms and ammunition from Jogeshwari to Musafirkhanna in South Mumbai in a cab.

Niyaz , on the other hand, was found guilty of the charge of undergoing training in handing of arms and explosives in Pakistan and for participating in conspiracy meetings besides surveying potential targets, including the Bombay Stock Exchange and Brihan-Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Ruksana, whose co-accused husband is a close aide of absconding prime accused Tiger Memon, is the third woman to be acquitted in the case, others being Hanifa Memon, mother of Tiger Memon and Rubeena Memon, wife of convict Yakub Memon.

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