BOMBAY, 13 September 2006 — A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (TADA) court yesterday found four members of a Muslim family guilty of carrying out the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Bombay that left 257 dead. Three members of the “Tiger Memon” family were acquitted of charges.

The trial began at the city’s Arthur Road prison amid tight security yesterday morning.

Special TADA Judge P.D. Kode announced his verdict of the case thirteen years after the blasts.

The four people convicted — Yakub Memon, Rubina, Essa and Yusuf — were found guilty of conspiring to organize and carry out the attacks. They could be sentenced to death depending on the seriousness of their crimes. “The accused, who are on bail, should be taken into custody,” said judge Kode, as the packed courtroom listened in silence.

As the verdict was delivered pandemonium erupted as Yakub Memon charged around the room screaming, “This is a total farce. You are making good people terrorists while people who are really doing the bombings are making you look like fools.” Yakub then tried to charge out of the room but was stopped by police.

Judge Kode also announced that the verdicts against the remaining 116 defendants, including Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, would be handed down in batches in the next few weeks.

Sentencing will be announced after all the verdicts are delivered, which could take about six weeks, said public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.

According to prosecutors the Memons were among the main accused in the case. The prosecution said that the blasts were organized by two of the six Memon brothers, who have both fled the country.

The trial, which was held in a court located inside a prison complex for security reasons, began in 1994 only to really gain momentum the following year. A total of 686 witnesses have appeared in court in the trial that has been running for more than a decade.

The most prominent defendant is Dutt, who was arrested after two suspects said he had bought an assault rifle from them. The actor was freed on bail after more than a year in prison.

Dutt arrived in court wearing a blue shirt and blue jeans with a large gold chain dangling around his neck. The prosecution wanted the court to deliver all verdicts at the same time but the judge refused saying it would take too much time, Nikam added. “The court found four people guilty and we are happy with the ruling,” Nikam said.

Speaking to Arab News Nikam said Yakub’s behavior was deplorable and that he would make a submission to the court suggestion rowdy people in court should be charged with contempt of court.

Nikam also said that the state government would file an appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of the three Memon family members.

Indian authorities say Dawood Ibrahim, an alleged Bombay mafia don who is supposedly living in Pakistan, masterminded the attacks in retaliation for the destruction of a historic 16th century mosque in Ayodhya by right-wing Hindu fanatics in 1992.

Following the demolition India saw a wave of rioting as Muslim women were raped and murdered across the country.

Many of the right-wing Hindu zealots responsible for causing ethnic-tensions have still not been arrested let alone convicted of any crime.

Ibrahim and his associates never faced trial having fled the country soon after the blasts. Ibrahim Mushtaq “Tiger” Memon, the eldest of six Memon brothers, was a close associate of Ibrahim and is suspected to be living with another brother in Pakistan, they say.

Of the 123 defendants, 11 died during the trial, 36 are in jail and the rest are out on bail. Another 37 suspects, including Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, have been declared “absconders” or fugitives. Abdul Razzak, father of Yakub, and one of the accused, also died during the trial.