TADA convicts six in 1993 Mumbai blasts

After 12 consecutive blasts shook Mumbai in 1993, leaving 713 severely injured, a special court under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act (TADA) convicted six out of the seven accused on Friday. This was the second batch under trial by special judge Govind A Sanap, after the main trial of 123 accused ended in 2006 with the conviction of 100. The next hearing date has been set to be June 19, to decide the date for arguments on quantum of sentence, reported the Times of India. The convicts are- Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Feroz Khan, Taher Merchant, Riyaz Siddiqui and Karimulla Khan. Out of the six convicted by the TADA court, five have been given death sentences, while Riyaz Siddiqui was sentenced to life imprisonment as he was not found guilty of criminal conspiracy. In addition, Abdul Qayyum Shaikh, who was acquitted by the court, had allegedly sent arms and ammunition from abroad which landed at Dighi Jerry in Mumbai just prior to the blasts taking place. Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel Deepak Salvi said this trial of the seven accused, arrested between 2003 and 2010, had to be conducted separately as they were detained only after a substantial portion of the previous trial had already been completed. As there are no other accused in connection to this case in police custody, this verdict was the last regarding the bombing incident for now. However, 33 accused are still absconding, including key conspirators Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anees Ibrahim, Mustafa's brother Mohammed Dossa and Tiger Memon. One of the key suspects in this trial, Abu Salem, was deported from Portugal in November 2005. His confession then led to the arrests of Siddiqui and Shaikh, while Mustafa was named in 1995 and arrested in 2003 after he arrived in Delhi from Dubai. The CBI said the attacks were planned to avenge the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Uttar Pradesh on December 6, 1992, and the communal riots in its aftermath.