93 blasts: Court convicts Memon's bodyguard

Mumbai, Nov 24: Bodyguard of prime absconding accused Tiger Memon and a city-based travel agent were today found guilty by TADA court here for their involvement in the serial bomb blasts which rocked the metropolis on March 12, 1993.

Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act Judge Pramod Kode convicted Sardar Khan and travel agent Altaf Ali under the TADA (P) Act and Indian Penal Code.

Both were out on bail but were taken into custody when the court cancelled their bail bonds after pronouncing the guilty verdict.

Khan was found guilty on the charge of aiding and abetting the crime under section 3(3) of TADA (P) Act and 120-B ( criminal conspiracy) of IPC.

According to the prosecution, Khan had attended meetings in the city's Taj Mahal hotel and at the residence of convict Mubina Baya where the blasts conspiracy was hatched by Tiger Memon and other accused.

He was also accused of participating in the landing of arms and ammunition at Shekhadi coast in Raigad district and for receiving training in handling of arms and ammunition in a camp organised by Tiger Memon at Sandheri and Bhorgad villages in Konkan area of Maharashtra.

Khan, a post-graduate in Commerce and who had completed his graduation while in jail, was also accused of surveying buildings of Bombay Stock Exchange and Bombay Municipal Corporation, which were targets of the blasts.

While convicting him, the court, in the order, said the accused had not made any confessional statement, however, the confessional statements of other accused and the material produced before the court proved his involvement in the terrorist crime.

The court, however, did not find Khan guilty of surveying the BSE building where the blast had claimed 50 lives.

The court gave him benefit of doubt for his involvement in the landing operation and stuffing RDX for preparing the motor vehicle bombs at the residence of the Memons in Al Husseni building at Mahim.

Travel agent Altaf Ali was convicted under section 3(3) and section 5 of TADA. He was accused of arranging 13 air tickets through ABC, a travel agency, and through his own agency - Khan's Air Services - to facilitate journey of several blasts accused to Dubai who later went to Pakistan for receiving weapons training.

He was also accused of storing two suitcases containing hand granades and detonetors which were part of consignments of arms and explosives smuggled into the country by Tiger Memon and his accomplices for committing the terrorist act.

He had later handed over one suitcase to co-accused Mohammud Hanif Sheikh for hiding. The police had recovered the suitcase from Sheikh at the instance of Altaf Ali.

While pronouncing him guilty, the court, however, held that the charge of purchasing the air tickets for the accused was not established. But he was found guilty for unauthourisedly possessing deadly weapons in the notified area of Mumbai and handing over these weapons to the co-accused.

UNI