BOMBAY, 28 September 2006 — Mohammed Mustaq Musa Tarani, a close friend of Tiger Memon, was found guilty yesterday of involvement in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Bombay that killed 257 people and left more than 700 injured.
The court headed by Judge P.D. Kode found Tarani guilty of all the charges against him, including triggering a blast at the Juhu Centaur Hotel in which three people were injured.
Tarani was also found guilty of participating in a conspiracy by meeting with Memon as well as surveying terrorist targets, including the Bombay Stock Exchange and the Municipal Corp headquarters.
Three main suspects in the case — Dawood Ibrahim and his henchmen Memon and Mohammed Dossa — have eluded capture.
They are accused of masterminding the series of explosions that rocked 13 sites in the metropolis, including the Bombay Stock Exchange building, three hotels and several busy markets on March 12, 1993.
The Bombay court is trying 123 accused in the case, and among those convicted so far have been four members of Memon’s family. Six of the accused have been acquitted. Twelve died during the 13-year-long trial.
The court began handing down its staggered verdicts on Sept. 12. The judge has not pronounced any sentences so far. They could range from five years of rigorous imprisonment to life imprisonment or the death sentence, public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.
The judge pronouncing the verdict said that all the charges against Tarani had been proved and therefore he was being convicted under the TADA Act.
The court also recorded the statement of the five policemen who were indicted on Tuesday for letting RDX, arms and ammunitions trucks move out without hindrance from Raigad to Bombay after accepting bribe of half a million Indian rupees.
