Mumbai: A special TADA court today fixed September 7 as the date for awarding the sentences and final verdict in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, which includes gangster Abu Salem among seven convicts. The court had earlier found six accused guilty in the second leg of the trial.
The trial involves seven accused who were arrested after the conclusion of the first leg of the trial. The court found guilty five convicts -- Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Khan, Tahir Merchant, Karimullah Khan -- under sections of the stringent Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Act read with Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosives Act, Explosive Substance Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and Riyaz Siddiqui only under TADA Act but discharged from conspiracy charges.
While, Abdul Kayyum Shaikh was acquitted on the grounds that there was no evidence against him. Salem and Dossa were also found guilty of criminal conspiracy charges. Along with the two gangsters, Firoz Khan, Karimullah Khan and Taher Merchant were also found guilty of conspiracy charges. Accused Siddiqui was convicted under section 3(3) of TADA Act but was acquitted all other charges.
Dossa, a key conspirator, died on the very next day in a government-run hospital after the prosecution sought death penalty for him during an argument in the court. The court had found him guilty even as the arguments for the sentencing was going on. In the trial’s first leg that concluded in 2007, TADA court had convicted 100 accused in the case, while 23 people were acquitted. (UNI)