The accused who had parked a car laden with RDX at the basement of Air India building in South Mumbai and later tried to bomb Shiv Sena party headquarters was sentenced to death by the special TADA court here on Wednesday. Thus, bringing to an end the major part of sentencing in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings case.

Farooq Pawle, the 11th convict to be sent to the gallows for killing innocent persons, who drove the car was in the chauffer’s uniform.  He had no difficulty in getting inside the car parking of the Air India building, the famous landmark on the Marine Drive of South Mumbai.

Pawle had left the car outside the rear exit of the Bank of Oman branch on the ground floor. It was the sixth bomb, and had destroyed the Bank of Oman branch and killed 20 persons injuring 87.
The accused had returned to Tiger Memon’s Al Hussaini building complex in Mahim near Dadar in Central Mumbai and had started on his second mission.

Later, he had planted a vehicle filled with explosives and fitted with a timer device at the Lucky Petrol pump near the Shiv Sena party headquarters, Sena Bhavan, in central Mumbai and the resulting blast killed four persons and injured 38.

The designated Judge Pramod Kode awarded the death sentence to Pawle on five counts which included participating in the conspiracy under section 120 B of the IPC, for killing people at Air India building and near Shiv Sena Bhavan under Section 302 of the IPC (murder) and for indulging in terrorist acts under the TADA.

The judge said Pawle had also surveyed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) which was the first to be hit by terrorists. Unfortunately,  those who carried out the BSE attack — Irfan Chougule and Tainur,  are still at large.

Psychiatric treatment
Pawle is undergoing psychiatric treatment and was lying on the benches in the dock at the back of the courtroom. A court clerk had to go to him to tell him the sentence.

 With Wednesday’s sentence, 92 out of 100 convicts have received punishment. Out of them, 11 have been sentenced to death and 17 have got life sentence.

The judge said the major portion of sentencing in the case was over. The four members of the Memon family, including three brothers of prime absconding accused Tiger Memon, are yet to be sentenced after they were convicted on charges of participating in the conspiracy to carry out the blasts.

While the Memons will hear the sentences on Thursday, the fate of actor Sanjay Dutt and his three friends will be known on Friday.

Although Sanjay has been acquitted of the TADA related charges, he has been convicted under two sections of the Arms Act for possessing a prohibitive weapon like AK-56 assault rifle and a pistol.

The two sections provide for the maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, but Sanjay has applied for waiver of the jail term and release under probation for his good character and behaviour.

The prosecution has opposed giving him any such relief.

BANGALOREAN AMONG VICTIMS
Mumbai, DHNS: A person from Bangalore was also among those killed in the Air India bombing in 1993.

 Shyam Sunder Shroff, a Reserve Bank of India officer from Bangalore had exposed a soiled notes recycling racket involving crores of rupees in 1992 in Bangalore. After that, he barely survived an attempt on his life after being stabbed.

He had won accolades for his work from the then Karnataka governor. Subsequently, he was transferred to RBI’s head office in Mumbai. He was at the Bank of Oman branch for a routine audit when killed.

His family now lives in Bangalore.