Serial Blasts put Maharashtra in terror focus

Mumbai, Dec 17: The July 11 serial train blasts and the verdict by TADA court on India's worst terror attack in her commercial and entertainment capital over a decade ago kept Maharashtra in the national news in 2006.
The September 8 Malegaon bomb blasts preceded by a huge haul of deadly RDX explosive, arms and ammunition from Aurangabad and Nashik in May highlighted the threat of terrorism.

Even as the nation was waiting for the verdict in the 1993 serial bomb blasts --13 years after it rocked the city-- India's financial nerve center, aspiring to be an Asian hub, was rattled by serial bomb blasts in suburban trains during peak rush hours on July 11.

Nearly 200 commuters died and over 800 were wounded in the 7/11 terror attack.

The worst strike suffered by the nation on March 12, 1993 had claimed 257 lives and left over 700 wounded in the aftermath of riots in the metropolis and the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya.

Like the 1993 blasts, police believe the train blasts, too were master-minded by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

CBI had investigated the 1993 blasts, while anti-terrorist squad (ATS) of Mumbai police has filed an over 10,000-page chargesheet in the 7/11 terror strike in Mumbai's suburban trains.

Ehtesham Siddiqui, one of the accused in 7/11 blasts, also revealed in his confession that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) carried out the July 5, 2005 terror strike near the make-shift temple at Ayodhya at the behest of ISI. Siddiqui said this was told to him by Faisal Shaikh, alleged to be the prime conspirator in the train blasts. An activist of the banned Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Shaikh of Pune is also among those arrested.

Three bomb blasts in the predominantly-Muslim town of Malegaon on September 8 left 25 people dead and over 200 injured. The ATS have arrested eight accused in the case. Certain MLAs of the ruling Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Congress have demanded CBI probe to solve the blasts riddle.

Meanwhile, the first phase of serial verdict in the 1993 blasts is over with the conviction of 100 accused and acquittal of 23. It took 84 days from September 12 to December 4 for TADA judge Pramod Kode to pronounce it.

Film star Sanjay Dutt is the prominent among the 100 convicts. He was, however, acquitted of the terror charge but found guilty under section 3 and 7 of the Arms Act for possessing a 9 mm pistol and an AK-56 rifle, a prohibited weapon. The minimum and maximum punishment under section 7 is five and ten years respectively.

Dutt, who has been on bail after spending 16 months in jail, has been directed to surrender to the court on December 19.

The second phase of the three-part verdict is underway in the TADA court. It involves arguments by defence and prosecution on the quantum of sentence to the 100 found guilty of various charges.

The third and last phase of the verdict would be pronouncement of punishment. This will happen next year.

UNI

In Focus
7/11 Mumbai bomb blast
Malegaon serial blasts