The special TADA court on Thursday surprised many by awarding life imprisonment to a convict, who was involved in the 1993 Mumbai bombing conspiracy. Many anticipated the death penalty for Shaikh Ali Umar, who filled RDX explosives in vehicles and drove a Maruti van to launch an armed assault at the Mumbai municipal corporation building.
Shaikh Umar would have been the first to get the death rap for his very active role in the terror bombings, that killed 257 innocent citizens including children and injured more than 700.
On Thursday designated judge Pramod Kode also opened the report of the Probation Officer on Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and a few others, who have been summoned to appear before it on June 14. These convicts were not involved in the terrorist acts and were found guilty only under the Arms Act or the Customs Act.
The TADA court has already made it clear that it will not consider applications for exemption from the prison term under the Probation of Offenders Act for those convicts held guilty under the TADA, which effectively leaves only Dutt and his friends in the POA loop. Their names, however, have not been declared officially, and the special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam only indicated the possibility of Dutt’s name having figured in that report.
Earlier, the TADA court sentenced gangster Ejaz Pathan to 10 years jail term and a fine of Rs 2.25 lakh for his involvement in the conspiracy and for his attending the first meeting in Dubai where the plot was discussed.Underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, his right-hand Tiger Memon, smuggler Mohammed Dossa as well as a few Pakistani smugglers and representatives of Pakistan’s ISI had participated.
Pathan, who was extradited to India from Dubai in 2003, had also arranged his men to help Tiger Memon in the landing of the explosives at Shekhadi coast in Raigad before the terror attack, including Manoj Kumar Gupta, Ehtesham, Shahnawaz Khan and Akbar Abu Sama Khan. Pathan had also sent his men to Pakistan for training.
The second convict was Shaikh Ali Shaikh Uman, who had made a recce of the Mumbai municipal corporation building to carry out an assault. The plot was to barge into the building with AK-56 rifles and kill BJP and Shiv Sena corporators inside.
He had also participated in filling of cars and scooters with RDX, which killed 257 people. On the day of attack, he drove a Maruti Van, belonging to Tiger Memon’s sister-in-law Rubeena Memon to take four others, including an absconding Javed Chikna, the second in command of Tiger, and three others. The van was laden with seven AK-56 rifles and hand grenades.
However, near Worli, a detonator started ticking and was about to explode killing all inmates, which forced them to abandon their plan. Shaikh parked the vehicle outside the Siemens factory gateway in Worli. He was subsequently arrested, while Chikna is in Pakistan. One of the inmates turned approver.
It was the recovery of this van that led police straightaway to the Memons and the plot was blown up. Shaikh was also involved in landing of explosives, participating in conspiracy meetings and in initiating a convict Gul Mohammed into the plot.
The prosecutor Mr Nikam said the CBI might appeal against the lighter sentences given to the two convicts after studying the judgement. The prosecution had demanded death penalty to both of them.
Shaikh has also been fined for Rs 1.5 lakh by the judge.
So far, 73 convicts have been sentenced for their roles in 1993 serial bombings. The actual bomb planters are yet to be sentenced.