MUMBAI, 21 July 2007 — Designated Judge P.D. Kode of the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (TADA) Act yesterday sent one convict to the gallows while sentencing two others to life imprisonment terms in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.
Mohammed Iqbal Yusuf Shaikh, the seventh convict to be sentenced to death by the special TADA court was held guilty of undergoing weapons training in Raigad district, cooperating in loading and unloading RDX explosives in vehicles, assisting in hurling hand grenades at the Sahar International Airport, and parking an explosives-laden two-wheeler at Naigaon, which failed to explode.
Delivering the verdict of death sentence to Mohammed Iqbal, Judge Kode said that the convict’s case was also the “rarest of rare cases” as the convict had indulged in “crime after crime.”
Taking into consideration the plea of dismissed Customs Collector Somnath Thapa that the court take a lenient action as he was suffering from cancer, Judge Kode acceded to the request of Thapa and said that aw has due consideration for vital sicknesses and therefore he was awarding Thapa life imprisonment.
Another convict, Bashir Ahmed Khairullah, was also awarded life imprisonment by the judge for his participation in arms, ammunition and explosives training conducted by Tiger Memon in Sandheri and Bhorghat and he was also convicted for participation in the conspirator’s meetings.
The most interesting and surprising factor in the case was that the seven convicts given the death penalty were fully prepared for the eventuality and their faces had no sign of any concern, depression or tension, when the verdict of death was read out to them by the judge. The death row convicts went out on Thursday and yesterday after the verdict and offered prayers. The well-mannered Shoaib Ghansar requested journalists to remember him and pray for him.
In another development, the state Director General of Police P.S. Pasricha has been primarily given a clean chit by the committee appointed to inquire into his alleged amassing of property. According to the prima facie findings of the report, Pasricha had only given advanced amount for the properties but not purchased them.
Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister R.R. Patil told the Maharashtra Legislative Council that no irregularities in the property deals of Pasricha have been found.
When questioned by the BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari, Pandurang Phundkar and Vinod Tawade about the status of the inquiry committee, Patil replied, “After giving a month’s extension to the committee, it submitted its report two days ago. The comprehensive report was prepared after holding ten meetings and is yet to be studied by the Home Department.”
“Investigations have been conducted in a fair manner and every question raised by the opposition will be answered, once the report is tabled before conclusion of the session,” Patil added.
“We are yet to go through it and will decide on further course of action in the next few days. Prima facie Pasricha has not bought the properties, but only given token money. The government has knowledge about the other properties purchased by him,” he said.
