By IANS
Mumbai : A special court Thursday sentenced two people, including one of the main conspirators of the Mumbai 1993 blasts, to life imprisonment, besides awarding lesser punishments to five more convicts.
Nasir Dakkla was awarded life sentence on two counts – for conspiring and for aiding and abetting the terror act. He faced charges of participating in meetings of the perpetrators before the bombing and had visited Pakistan to get arms training. He had also helped when the weapons reached Maharashtra by sea.
Judge P.D. Kode of the anti-terror TADA court termed him as a "coveted member of conspirators".
"I am not giving you a death because you had distanced yourself from conspirators just prior to the blast but you didn't inform the police, which you should have done," Kode said. Nasir was also fined Rs.25,000.
The other convict to get life was Ashraf Rehman Sheikh – found guilty of possessing 85 hand grenades, 350 detonators and 3,217 live cartridges that he had hidden at his residence in the heart of Mumbai's Fort area. A fine of Rs.100,000 was also imposed on him.
Those who were sentenced with lesser punishments included Mohammed Raffique Madi alias Mussa Bihariwala, a former driver of absconding blast mastermind Tiger Memon.
Madi was guilty of participating in the RDX and weapons landing operation at Shekhadi landing operation and transporting the part of the smuggled consignment of RDX and weapons from coastal Shekhadi to Mumbai in a van.
He too was sentenced on two counts – five years' rigorous imprisonment (RI) and fine of Rs.25,000 under section 3(3) of the TADA Act for aiding and abetting terror act, besides an enhanced seven years' RI with an additional fine of Rs.50,000 under section 6 of the TADA Act.
Another convict Yusuf Khan Quyoom, guilty of transporting arms and weapons, was sentenced to five years' RI with a fine of Rs.25,000.
Ayub Ibrahim Patel was also sentenced to five years' RI with a fine of Rs.50,000 for aiding and abetting terror act and another sentence of 10 years' RI with an additional fine of Rs.50,000 under section 5 for an enhanced punishment of 10 years' RI with an additional fine of Rs.50,000 under section 6.
Patel was charged with distribution of arms and weapons and was found guilty under section 3(3) 5, and 6 of the TADA act for possessing 20 hand grenades.
Sheikh Asif Yusuf Sheikh, guilty of participating in both the landing operations at Shekhadi and Dighi and possession of hand grenades, was sentenced on three counts.
Sheikh was given five years' RI and fined Rs.55,000 for aiding and abetting terror acts. He was sentenced to an additional RI of five years for possession of four hand grenades and a fine Rs.100,000, besides an enhanced punishment of eight years' RI and an additional fine of Rs.50,000.
Sahanawaz Khan, guilty of participating in the landing operations and agreeing to go for arms training to Pakistan via Dubai, was sentenced on two counts – of 10 years' RI and fined Rs.25,000 each.
Judge Kode came down heavily on the police and the prosecution for their faulty charge sheet and for not recording the recovery properly.
"Serious lapses were made by the police investigating the seizure of such a large cache of explosives and ammunition. The investigating officers did not follow basic rules. Confessions of the accused were not recorded properly," Kode admonished the prosecution for "trying to hide its failures."
"Such a huge numbers of hand grenades were found in the heart of the city's Fort area…had all the 85 grenades been exploded, the entire area would have blown off," the judge said.