1993 Blasts Case: Court to Pronounce Punishment on 7 September
Six persons, including extradited gangster Abu Salem and Mustafa Dossa were convicted by a TADA court in June.
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- A special TADA court will pronounce the quantum of punishment of the five convicts in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on 7 September
- The court had on 16 June convicted six persons – Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya.
- The court, however, acquitted Abdul Quayyum, the seventh accused.
- Dossa passed away on 28 June after suffering a cardiac arrest.
- A series of blasts in Mumbai in 1993 had killed 257 and injured 713 others.
Court to Pronounce Quantum of Punishment on 7 September
A special TADA court will pronounce the quantum of punishment of five convicts, including extradited gangster Abu Salem, in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on 7 September.
The court had on 16 June convicted six persons, Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya. A few days after the verdict, Mustafa Dossa, died after suffering a cardiac arrest.
Prosecution Wants Maximum Sentence for Convicts
The prosecution had in June told the court that it would seek maximum punishment under the law for the six persons convicted last week in the 1993 serial blasts case.
The statement came after the defence lawyer Sudeep Passbola said the prosecution should make arguments on the quantum of sentence first, as the defence needs to know the aggravating circumstances against the convicts which the prosecution may put forth.
Six Accused, Including Abu Salem, Convicted
Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, and Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya were convicted on 16 June 2017 – 24 years after the attacks left 257 people dead. It, however, acquitted Abdul Quayyum, the seventh accused.
All the seven accused were facing multiple charges which included criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Government of India and murder.
This was the second leg of the trial. In the first leg of the trial that concluded in 2007, the TADA court had convicted 100 accused in the case, while 23 people were acquitted.
Convicts and Their Charges
Here are the charges under which the accused were pronounced guilty.
‘An Unprecedented Terror Attack’
On 12 March 1993, the country's commercial capital witnessed an unprecedented terrorist attack when a series 12 bomb explosions took place one after another, in about a span of two hours.
The blasts took place at Bombay Stock Exchange, Katha Bazaar, Lucky petrol pump near Sena Bhavan, opposite Passport office near Century Bazaar, Fishermen's colony at Mahim Causeway, at the basement of Air India Building, Zaveri Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Plaza Theatre, Centaur Hotel (Juhu), Sahar Airport (Bay no 54) and Centaur Hotel (near airport).
This was the first ever terrorist attack in the world where RDX (Research Department Explosive ie cyclotrimethylene trinitramine) was used on such a large scale after the Second World War.
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