TADA Court convicts 100 accused in one case

Mumbai, Dec 4: The TADA court today found guilty all the remaining six accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case and thus created a record in the history of criminal jurisprudence in the country by convicting 100 accused in a single case.

In a landmark trial of the total 123 accused which lasted 8 years, the designated court of Mr Pramod Kode acquitted the remaining 23 giving them the benefit of the doubt for want of sufficient evidence against them.

Judge Kode pronounced Bashir Ahmed, Zakir Hussain, Abdul Akhtar Khan, Moin Qureshi, Salim Sheikh and Feroze Malik guilty under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act on the charge of lobbing hand grenades at a fishermen colony at Mahim Causeway in the city on March 12, 1993. Three people were killed and seven wounded in this terror act. Altogether 257 people were killed and 713 wounded in India's worst terror attack in her financial and entertainment capital that day when multiple bomb blasts rocked the metropolis.

All the six accused were also convicted on charges of having participated in conspiracy meetings, visiting Pakistan via Dubai for receiving training in handling of arms and ammunation under various provisions of TADA Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The trial in the case commenced in 1995 and concluded in 2003.

The total 23 acquitted in the case include three members of the family of prime absconding accused Tiger Memon and Ajay Marwaha, a close associate of Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. Marwaha was charged with destroying evidence against the actor by getting rid of the 9 mm pistol which was in Dutt's Bandra's residence.

Dutt, acquitted of terror charges, was, however, convicted under the Arms Act but still faces a minimum of five years and a maximum of ten years sentence.

After hearing the prosecution and defence, the court will pronounce the quantum of punishment on December 11.

UNI