Click to play videoMumbai: March 12, 1993: Twelve powerful blasts rip through Mumbai, killing 257 and leaving more than and 700.
Fourteen years of agonising wait later, 100 convictions and 11 death sentences are handed out, even as the masterminds remain at large.
But on Friday, the wheels of justice will roll and the key perpetrators will finally know their fate when the “first family of 1993 blasts” is sentenced.
The Memons including Yakub, Yusuf, Essa and Rubeena will be handed out their quantum of sentences by the special TADA court hearing the case.
Here are the main charges against the four Memons:
Charges against Yakub
Yakub, who had fled to Dubai a day before the bombings, along with the rest of family, returned to India and surrendered to the CBI on the July 28, 1994.
But why did he return? In his own words, "I returned to India to help the investigating authorities and to clear the stigma forced on my family for the wrong doing of a few family members (Tiger and Ayub Memon), of being perpetrators."
- But the CBI and then the court found him guilty of distributing funds arranged by his absconding brother and co-accused Ayub Memon to achieve objectives of the conspiracy.
- As a travel agent he had also arranged for the travel, lodging and boarding for the men who were sent for terror training to Pakistan.
- Yakub also collected and handed over 85 hand-grenades from one of the co-accused to the other.
Charges against Essa, Yusuf and Rubeena
- Both Essa and Yusuf have been found guilty for allowing their flat and garage in Al-Hussaini building, to be used for terrorist activities.
- Rubeena was found guilty for allowing her Maruti van to be used for terrorist activities. It was the first piece of evidence in the case.
- While Essa has already spent about 12 years in prison, Yusuf is a schizophrenic and has spent over five years in jail.
The other Memon family members including Yakub's brother Suleiman, his mother Hanifa Memon, and wife Raheen have been acquitted.
Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has made clear he will appeal the court for a death sentence for Yakub and severest punishment for the other members of the first family of 1993 blasts.
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