Mumbai blasts: Four Memons convicted

New Delhi: The special TADA court hearing the long-drawn 1993 Mumbai blasts case on Tuesday convicted four members of the Memon family - Yakub, Essa, Rubina and Yusuf on charges of conspiring and abetting acts of terror.

However, three other members of Memon family - Suleiman, Hanifa and Raheen - have been acquitted with the judge giving them the benefit of doubt.

The four Memons face jail terms ranging from a minimum of five years to life imprisonment.

Yakub Memon, brother of prime accused 'Tiger' Memon, has also been charged with possessing unauthorised arms.

The court, which pronounced its verdict only on the Memons on Tuesday, will deliver the complete judgment in a staggered manner over a period of four weeks.

Immediately after the verdict, Yakub Memon lost his cool in court and mouthed expletives at the judge.

"Yahaan sab c****** (expletive) bhare hue hain. Hamare jaise massumo ko phansate hain. Court mein laakar terrorist bana dete hain. (You people are making terrorists out of innocents. This is all a drama. We are innocent)," he said.

Yakub is the younger brother of Tiger Memon, the prime accused and main conspirator of Mumbai blasts.

After the blasts, the family members of Tiger, including Yakub, had escaped to Dubai and then to Pakistan.

Except Tiger and his brother Ayub, the entire family returned to India and they were arrested by CBI in 1994.

Since then, Yakub has been in custody and is undergoing treatment for depression, according to his lawyer Subhash Kanse.

Sanjay's turn could take longer

According to public prosecuter Ujjwal Nikam, the verdict in a case involving actor Sanjay Dutt would take at least a month's time. "The court has adopted a well-thought-out strategy to deliver the verdict in a staggered manner and the judgment would come in stages."

HOW THE MEMONS PLANNED THE BLASTS

Tiger Memon purchased new cars to be used as vehicle bombs in fictitious names by making cash payments. The vehicles included an Ambassdor car, Maruti vans, Maruti cars, Mahendra jeeps and Bajaj scooters.

False cavities were made inside the vehicles so as to fill them with RDX. The explosive material, which was stored at different places in Mumbai, was transported to the garages of Tiger Memon at Al-Hussaini building.

During the intervening night of March 11-12, 1993, one by one, the new vehicles were brought in the compound of the Al-Hussaini building and RDX mixed with iron scrap, nails and bolts, was filled in the cavaties.

Tiger Memon had already despatched all his family members to Dubai in two batches on March 10 and 11, 1993. After making all arrangements and giving detailed instructions for planting of vehicle bombs, Tiger Memon himself left for Dubai in the early hours of March 12, 1993.

The Memons escaped to Dubai a day prior to the blasts, from where they went to Pakistan.

While Tiger and his brother Ayub stayed there, other family members returned to India via Dubai. They claimed to have surrendered before CBI but the agency alleged that the Memon family was arrested when they landed at the Delhi airport from a Dubai flight.

Mumbai blasts: The case so far

There are 123 accused and the court has recorded over 13,000 pages of oral evidence, 7,000 pages of documentary evidence, 135 confessions and 686 witness statements. The case has been on for 13 years now.

All eyes are on the extradited underwolrd don Abu Salem and Sanjay Dutt, who are among the 123 accused. Mumbai is on a high alert to prevent any possible flare up after the verdict is announced.

Given below is a brief chronology of the case that has dragged on for 13 agonising years.

After a 13-year-long agonising wait, a special Mumbai court will finally deliver its verdict in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case on September 12.

The serial blasts on March 12, 1993 had claimed more than 257 lives and left thousands injured.

While the gory sights of death and destruction at the Air-India building in the posh Nariman Point area, at Bombay Stock Exchange and at Century Bazaar in Worli have since been forgotten, the trial has been dragging on and on.

The investigations and trial proved too voluminous. Till the end, the prosecution presented approximately 43,000 pages as part of its chargesheet and evidence.

The court has thus far recorded more than 13,000 pages of oral evidence, more than 7,000 pages of documentary evidence and secured 135 confessions and 686 witness statements.

Separate trials of Abu Salem, Riyaz Siddiqui and Mustafa Majnoo were ordered. The main accused - Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Anees Ibrahim, Mushtaq Memon, and Tiger Memon - are among the 35 others, who are yet to be brought to book.

During the protracted trial, two accused - including Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi - were discharged by the court.

The CBI had taken over the investigation soon after the blasts and filed its first chargesheet in November 1993 itself. At least 30 accused have been in jail ever since the blasts occurred in 1993. Some of the witnesses examined by the prosecution turned hostile.

Sanjay Dutt Angle: Film actor Sanjay Dutt is charged with possessing an AK-56 rifle and later destroying it with the help of his friends. However, the actor has denied the charge by retracting his statement to the police.

On August 10, the designated TADA judge P D Kode had begun dictating the verdict and had said that court would pronounce judgement on September 12.

All the accused in March 12, 1993 blasts, including those out on bail, have been asked to be present in the court when the judge is expected to deliver the verdict.

Meanwhile, one of the accused, Abu Salem has moved the Supreme Court challenging the order of TADA court separating his trial from the main blasts trial.

The apex court will hear Salem's plea on September 18. Out of 123 accused people, 94 are on bail and 29 in custody.

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