Yakub Memon: Once best CA awardee, to hang for terror

Once named as the best chartered accountant by the Memon community, Yaqub Abdul Razzak Memon, the most high-profile convict in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, will hang for acts of terror and mayhem after the Supreme Court rejected his curative plea on Tuesday.

The brother of Ibrahim alias Tiger Memon, the chief conspirator of the 13 blasts which hit the country's commercial capital that afternoon of March 12, 1993, Yakub Memon, 53, is lodged in the Nagpur Central Jail and will be the first and only accused in the case to go the gallows.

As per indications, the state government has given the go-ahead to hang him inside the jail premises on July 30 - closing a chapter 23 years after the terror attacks permanently scarred Mumbai.

Tiger, 52, is considered to be a close aide of the absconder mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, and both are declared "wanted absconders" in the same case.

Yakub, the third of six sons of the Abdul Razzak Memon, turned out to be most highly-educated in the Memon family. He studied in an English medium school, later acquired a B.Com degree and then qualified as a chartered accountant in 1990.

A year later, he set up "Mehta & Memon Associates" along with a childhood friend Chetan Mehta. A year later, they parted ways and Memon set up his independent firm, "AR & Sons", in memory of his father.

This firm proved so successful that he was conferred the Best CA Award by the Memon community in Mumbai.

He diversified into exports and set up a company, Tejrath International, to export meat and meat products to the Gulf and Middle East.

In a very short period, Memon became a financial success and invested in six flats in the Al-Hussaini Building in Mahim, close to the famous Mahim Dargah.

The accused No. 1 in the Mumbai serial blasts, Menom's role was proved for being part of the conspiracy, financing the operation through a co-accused Mulchand Shah and his firms, arranging air tickets to fly to Dubai and then Pakistan for six other accused in the case.

He has also been found guilty of purchasing vehicles which were used in the blasts and possessing arms and ammunitions, thus leading to his conviction under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, the TADA Act, Explosive Substances Act, and other laws.

On July 27, 2007, Memon was first awarded the death sentence by then Special Judge P. D. Kode of the Special TADA Court in Mumbai.

The ruling was subsequently upheld by the Bombay High Court, then a Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan on March 21, 2013.

On April 9 this year, a three-member bench headed by Justice A. R. Dave had rejected a review plea filed by Memon against the death sentence.

Meanwhile, President Pranab Mukherjee has also rejected his clemency petition, following which he filed a curative petition, which was rejected on Tuesday by the Supreme Court, clearing the way for his death sentence.