1993 serial blasts suspect held in UAE, may be deported soon

Abu Bakar Had Gone To PoK For Training

Mateen.Hafeez@timesgroup.com

 

Mumbai: A 51-year-old fugitive wanted for plotting and helping transport the explosives used in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in the city was detained in the UAE on Wednesday on inputs provided by Indian security agencies, and is likely to be deported soon. 

Abu Bakar Abdul Gafoor, a central Mumbai resident, is alleged to have undergone training with several others on explosives and in assembling firearms in a camp in Pakistan-occupied Kashimir (PoK) before the blasts. “He was never arrested in the bomb blast case,” said a source.

Sources said Abu Bakar’s name cropped up during the investigation and in the statements of several other accused, prompting the CBI to issue a red corner notice (RCN) in November 1997. The Interpol notice alerts security agencies across the world about an accused and enjoins them to arrest the person. There is no clarity on how he was detained by the UAE police.

The blasts probe had found that Abu Bakar participated in several conspiracy meetings before the March 12, 1993, serial explosions. The meetings were conducted at various places, and prime accused Dawood Ibrahim attended several such meetings.

Before the blasts, a group of youths from Mumbai went for training to Pakistan, where they learnt to operate firearms and assemble explosives. Abu Bakar was allegedly part of this group. After the blasts, he never returned India.

He surfaced in the UAE and would do small business. It is learnt that he married an Iranian woman and settled down in the Emirates.

The explosives and firearms used in the 1993 blasts were sent from Dubai.

 

Bakar used to work with the Dossa brothers as smuggler

Abu Bakar is alleged to have been part of the team that helped smuggle the explosives to Dighi jetty near Murud, where it was collected by other plotters and brought to Mumbai.

Earlier, in Mumbai, in the mid-80s, he joined the Dossa brothers— Mustafa and Mohammed, both also accused in the 1993 case—and worked for them. He was into smuggling electronic goods, TV, gold and clothes from the Gulf countries to India.

It is not clear how Abu Bakar managed to dodge the agencies for so many years. The CBI is probing the 1993 blast cases, one of the world’s deadliest terror acts. Twelve blasts at different locations in Mumbai had killed 257 people and injured 713 others. Property worth Rs 27 crore was damaged.

In 2007, the Tada court had sentenced 12 convicts to death. One of them, Yaqub Memon, was executed in 2015. Another 20 convicts were awarded life sentences. However, the SC commuted the death sentences of several accused to life. 

The Times of India, February 15, 2019

Salem’s extradition still valid, CBI can drop 6 charges against him: SC

Dhananjay Mahapatra & Mateen Hafeez TNN

New Delhi/Mumbai: The Supreme Court on Monday deftly stepped around a possible conflict with the Portuguese Supreme Court by allowing CBI to drop six charges under anti-terror law TADA, Explosives Act and Arms Act against Mumbai serial blasts accused Abu Salem while maintaining that his extradition to India remained unaffected by the adverse rulings of Portuguese courts. 

    “It is vividly clear that the order of extradition (against Salem) dated March 28, 2003, still stands valid and effective in the eyes of law,” a bench of Chief Justice P Sathasivam and J Chelameswar said. It also vacated the February 17, 2012, stay on trial against Salem in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
    Saba Qureishi, Salem’s lawyer, said, “We will approach the European Court soon.”
 
    The SC bench was of the view that though the top Portuguese courts found India had breached the assurances it had given while seeking Salem’s extradition, Union of India was not directed to return the gangster who was arrested in Lisbon while travelling with a Pakistani passport on an assumed name.
 
    Justice Sathasivam said, “This delivery of individuals to a requesting sovereign is usually based on treaties or bilateral agreements but sometimes it also occurs by reciprocity and comity as a matter of courtesy and goodwill between sovereigns as in this case. Therefore, ‘world public order’ is the recurring theme based on which the extradition is practised by the states,” the CJI added.
 
    Given the repeated assertions from Salem that the extradition stood revoked by the rulings of the Portuguese Supreme Court followed by the concurrence of their constitutional court, the bench said both India and Portugal were two sovereign states with efficient and independent judicial systems.
 
    “As a consequence, in unequivocal terms, the verdict by the Constitutional Court of Portugal is not binding on this court but only has persuasive value,” Justices Sathasivam and Chelameswar said.   The apex court had earlier said that all charges filed against Salem held good. However, it decided to accept the CBI’s request made through attorney general G E Vahanvati for dropping of additional charges slapped on Salem in the hope that it would harmonize its own decision with that of Portuguese courts.

    The court had earlier held that since the additional charges attracted lesser punishment than the charges for which Salem was extradited, it was perfectly legal for the trial court to frame the additional charges.  On Monday, it recorded the AG’s assurance that the agency was in the process of withdrawing other charges pending in various states against Salem, which are claimed to be in violation of the extradition order. 
    Meanwhile, last week, Salem’s lawyer had filed an application in the TADA court in Mumbai stating he was feeling insecure in any jail and that he should be transferred to the Portugal embassy in Goa. A history sheeter, Devendra Jagtap alias JD, was arrested for shooting at Salem on June 27 in Taloja prison. Salem sustained wounds on his fingers. Qureishi added that the Delhi high court has instructed dropping of the MCOCA charges against Salem in a 2002 extortion case, but the trial is still on for the past two years. 

 
CHARGES, TRIAL & CASE SO FAR SALEM MOVES LISBON HIGH COURT
 
ABU SALEM’S PLEA Transfer him to a Lisbon jail
 
HIS EXTRADITION IN 2005 Salem and his then companion, actor Monica Bedi, were extradited to India on November 11, 2005. Salem was arrested in eight cases, including the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. India had assured Portugal of no charges entailing death penalty or imprisonment of more than 25 years
    Salem filed a petition in the Lisbon High Court, alleging violation of the ‘Rule of Speciality’. In a September 19, 2012, ruling, Lisbon court said there had been a breach of the undertaking given by India
    Salem sought closure of trial against him in various courts here after Portugal Supreme Court upheld the order of a lower court, terminating his extradition for “violation” of deportation rules by Indian authorities
 
SUPREME COURT STAYS TRIAL The Supreme Court stayed the trial after he approached the apex court against TADA court’s order of January 31, 2013, rejecting his plea for closure
 
SHOT IN JAIL Salem was shot at in Taloja’s high security anda cell by another inmate, Devendra Jatap alias JD, on June 27, 2013. He sustained wounds on his fi ngers
 
FEELING ‘INSECURE’ Last week, Salem’s lawyer filed an application in the TADA court in Mumbai stat- ing he was feeling “insecure in jail” and that he should be transferred to the Portugal embassy in Goa
 
SC RULING The Supreme Court on Monday allowed CBI to drop six charges under antiterror law TADA, Explosives Act and Arms Act against Abu Salem while maintaining that his extradition to India remained unaffected

The Times of India, August 6, 2013

Gangster Abu Salem wants to be shifted to Portuguese embassy

Abu Salem

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: Exactly a month after an attempt on his life at the Taloja prison, extradited gangster Abu Salem on Monday filed an application before the special TADA court seeking directions to the jail authorities that he be moved to the Portuguese consulate in Goa or embassy in Delhi. 

    Jail authorities said they planned to shift Salem but wanted to ensure there was no untoward incident in the other prison. Salem said in the application that Taloja officials received an order to transfer him to the Thane jail. “The applicant (Salem) may be transferred to the Portuguese Embassy till a final decision is taken on the issue of repatriation to Portugal post-termination of an extradition order in the interest of justice,” read the application filed by Ansari through his lawyer, Rashid Ansari. The application prayed to court that Salem not be transferred to any other jail “in the interest of justice since the risk to his life is on a higher scale in other jails”. 

    “Salem has several cases against him and has to be produced before court. Earlier, he was in Arthur Road jail, where a clash was reported between him and D-gang member Mustafa Dossa. Salem has reportedly told some cops that he did not feel secure in the Thane jail too. We are exploring options since the security of all inmates is our responsibility,” a senior prison department official said.
    CCTV cameras have been installed at Taloja jail’s anda cell as gangster Devendra Jagtap had hidden his pistol in a loudspeaker there. 

    “A camera will certainly exert psychological pressure on inmates and they will think twice before committing a crime,” an official said. All jails where hardened criminals are kept are engaged in psychological profiling of inmates. “It will help cops maintain tighter security,” he said.
 

THE SHOOTING INCIDENT
Abu Salem was shot at twice in a high-security anda cell by another inmate, Devendra Jagtap, with a country-made revolver at Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai
Only one bullet hit the extradited gangster’s finger
Jagtap reportedly hid the revolver in a loudspeaker in the prison
He has seven to eight cases against him, including three to do with murders
The Dawood gang dominates the Thane, Arthur Road, Kalyan and Taloja jails
Most Chhota Rajan shooters are reportedly housed in the Thane jail  

 

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILING
All jails which house hardened criminals are engaged in this. Details include an inmate’s
crimes, his gang and who he interacts with often

The Times of India, July 30, 2013

14 YEARS 100 CONVICTS

TIME TAKEN FOR TRIAL TO NEAR CONCLUSION TADA JUDGE P D KODE WILL START SENTENCING THEM IN BATCHES FROM FRIDAY As Tada Court Gets Set To Sentence The Guilty, TOI Recalls Defining Moments That Put The Probe On The Right Track

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

It has taken the system 14 years to get close to punishing 100 of those responsible for Mumbai’s first — and, till date, deadliest — brush with terror. But it was only 10 hours of some solid detection work — blessed by some amount of luck — that set investigators on the trail of those who bled Mumbai on 12 March 1993.

Rakesh Maria was a deputy commssioner of police (traffic) then but had no problems in recalling the defining moments of the probe. “It was around 5.30 pm that fateful day when police police found a Maruti (MFC-1972) parked near the Siemens office at Worli. It yielded seven AK-47 rifles, four handgrenades, two timers, one zamzam water bottle (water brought from Haj), dates and a tasbeeh (used for prayers). Officials made a panchnama and the vehicle was kept at Worli police station,’’ Maria said. But it took them two days to realise the car’s worth and put it to use.

A Bajaj scooter (MH-04/Z-261) was found parked outside physician Mandot’s dispensary on Naigaon Cross Road two days after the blasts. Mandot found it suspicious and informed Matunga police station. Officials came to inspect it and found a black substance kept in the scooter’s hold. Very few, even in the force, knew much about RDX then. So the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad was called to defuse the bomb. The scooter was towed to Matunga police station and, along with the car, later proved to be two key recoveries that solved the case. “I was present near the spot when the bomb was defused and was busy diverting traffic because of the huge crowd that had gathered. Little did I know then that I would be pressed full-time into the probe,’’ Maria said.

At 6.45 pm that evening, Maria was told to meet police commissioner A S Samra and joint commissioner of police (crime) M N Singh. “I was entrusted with the probe,’’ Maria recalled. A team, comprising 15 officers, met at the police headquarters at 8.30 pm that evening itself. “We
spected the car and were told it was registered in the name of Raheen Memon, staying at Al-Hussaini Apartments, Mahim. I earlier had the zone, which included Mahim, in my charge. So I called up my informers and asked about the Memons. One of them said Tiger Memon, Raheen’s brother in-law, was a smuggler,’’ Maria said. The team then raided Tiger Memon’s flat.

“I was standing near a refrigerator next to the door when my elbow touched something; it was a Bajaj scooter key. I asked assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Bhaskar Dangle to go and check the key with the scooter that was recovered. Dangle called me back and said the key was the scooter’s,’’ Maria said, admitting he was “very excited’’ and a thought crossed his mind that the team was on to a big thing. Informers then told him Tiger’s manager, Asgar Yusuf Mukadam, knew all about the family. Mukadam was not at his Malad residence but, at 4 am on 15 March, he was brought to the police headquarters along with his uncle and aunt from Goregaon; his parents were picked up later.

“I told Mukadam we had evidence of his involvement and threatened to make him speak. That was enough,’’ Maria said. Those 10 hours, from the evening of 14 March to early morning on 15 March, set the pattern for the rest of the probe. Mukadam divulged the minutest details about the entire conspiracy hatched by Tiger Memon, the meetings and their venues, the boys who were sent to Pakistan via Dubai, the landing of arms and explosives and the money spent on the blasts. Mukadam also told police that Tiger had boarded an Emirates flight at 5 am on 12 March itself, hours before bombs exploded in the city. Mukadam also said filling of explosives in the 11 vehicles (six new cars and motorcycles were bought) started at 10.30 pm on 11 March and continued till midnight. He became the first arrest in the case.

THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BLASTS
Most of the blast masterminds are out of the law’s grasp

DAWOOD IBRAHIM KASKAR ROLE: Was the chief conspirator and financier of the blasts; he provided the bulk of the Rs 28 crore that went into planning and execution NOW: Is believed to be in Pakistan

TIGER MEMON ROLE: He was the one who organised the blasts at hoth micro and macro levels NOW: Alternates between Dubai and Pakistan

MOHAMMED UMAR DOSSA ROLE: Was one of the main conspirators; he organised all the meetings between the conspirators NOW: Lives in Dubai

ANWAR THEBA ROLE: He was one of the key planters who was left behind in India but managed to later escape abroad NOW: Is believed to be in Dubai

JAVED CHIKNA ROLE: He remained in India till after the blasts and led the packing of vehicles with explosives and later their parking across the city NOW: Is believed to be in Dubai

The Times of India, May 17, 2007

No special plan, say jail officials

BAIL OR JAIL: Dutt is to appear in the special court on Tuesday

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The state’s jail authorities are not making any special preparation to house Sanjay Dutt even if his defence team’s plea, for an extension of the deadline to surrender, falls through in court on Tuesday.

Dutt has been convicted under the Arms Act and his deadline to surrender in court gets over on Tuesday. But the court has already extended the deadline till Thursday for some other co-accused and that has given his legal team some hope.

Jail officials, however, are not willing to go into any speculation but say Dutt is just another convict in their eyes. “He is just like other convicts and we will go by the court’s order. The Arthur Road prison will interact with the inspector-general (prisons) to decide on where to send the convicts,’’ deputy inspector-general, prison (south region), S P Yadav said.

Referring to former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu’s conviction in a murder case, officials said they knew “the designated court might grant convicts bail even after dictating their punishment to the convicted’’.

Without getting into the nitty-gritty of Dutt’s case, officials say other convicts — who get simple imprisonment — are sent to any of the 52 jails in the state. But those who are punished with rigorous imprisonment have to serve term in one of the eight central prisons in the state.

“We usually do not keep convicts at the Arthur Road jail since it is already overcrowded. We send most convicts to the Kolhapur prison (western region) or the Yeroda jail (south region), which has the maximum number of convicts,’’ an official said. The 804-prisoner Arthur Road prison has around 2,900 prisoners and 90 per cent of them are undertrails.

Convicts, who get rigorous imprisonment, are offered work as carpenters, handloom operators, farm-hands or they can do screenprinting or manufacture furniture that is used in government offices. Convicts earlier had to break stones. But that has been stopped. “Convicts have to work in the four walls of the jail premises,’’ an official said. Convicts always get some remuneration for their work. Trainee convicts are entitled to a pay of Rs 20 a day and the others earn between Rs 30 and Rs 90 a day. Ratnagiri has a special jail for convicts where the elderly and the ill are sent.

FLASHBACK
TOI looks back at the two stints that Sanjay Dutt has served in prison as an undertrial

TIME IN JAIL
20 April 1993 to 5 May 1993
4 July 1994 to 16 October 1995

THE HERO AS AN UNDERTRIAL PRISONER
He befriended two kittens in the police lock-up during his first 14-day stint; the kittens would sleep on top of him, protecting him from the mice in the lock-up
He grew a beard, smoked a lot and lost 11 kilograms
He again went to jail in 1994 and Madhuri Dixit severed all ties with him; but Rhea Pillai, sisters Namrata and Priya and father Sunil Dutt would visit him regularly in prison
His sisters tied rakhi on his wrist and he broke down because he had nothing to give them except some jail food coupons
He kept himself busy, writing poems, letters to his family and kept a diary

The Times of India, December 19, 2006

Kin can’t fathom Tada for 60-plus widow

GOT LUCKY: Only Ajay Marwah was acquitted of all charges

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Relatives of many of those convicted along with Sanjay Dutt have started asking the same questions that the more educated, especially those versed well in law, have raised.

Many of them say, especially after Sanjay Dutt’s conviction only on Arms Act charges, that their kin — instead of being part of any conspiracy — have been victims of that conspiracy and acted only as “carriers’’ and not as “conspirators’’.

Among those linked with Dutt’s crime and convicted on Tada charges are 64-year-old widow Zaibunnisa, 43-year-old motor training school owner Baba Chauhan, 42-year-old Manzoor Ahmed and 55-year-old former film producer Sameer Hingora.

Bandra resident Zaibunnisa’s husband was a pilot who passed away many years ago. Mother of three children — the eldest daughter is married to a businessman in Sri Lanka — Zaibunnisa has been a housewife. She was arrested as Manzoor and gangster Abu Salem allegedly kept guns and grenades at her place for a night; they were later taken away.

A relative of Zaibunnisa, roaming about near the Arthur Road prison where the Tada court was located, said: “She is getting on in years and there is no income except her husband’s pension,’’ the relative added.

Manzoor Ahmed’s story is not very much more cheerful. His teenaged son now runs an STD/ISD booth to support the family. He was accused of delivering the weapons to Dutt’s home.

A relative questioned the basis of letting a person, found guilty of keeping unlicensed AK-56s at his home, off Tada charges and booking people who had delivered the weapons. “We are not very educated and do not understand the nitty-gritty of law. But this does not sound to be very fair,’’ he added. But there were others who claimed to know a little more about the law. “Mumbai was declared a notified area at that time and keeping and hiding an illegal weapon should, therefore, have been punishable under Tada,’’ a relative of a co-accused said.

Iqbal Chauhan, nephew of Baba Chauhan (convicted on Tada charges on Wednesday), remembers the fiveand-a-half-year “horrible experience’’ of having to get food from Andheri for Chauhan twice a day. “My uncle is the oldest member in a family of 20. We all consult with him whenever we have to take any decision. We did not fix the wedding date of his daughter since we thought he would be released,’’ Iqbal said, adding: “My uncle was used.’’

The Times of India, November 30, 2006

Looking back in anger

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: Many of the accused in the 1993 serial blasts case were in the 20-25 age-group 13 years back. Some of them spoke to TOI and looked back on what happened in 1993 with the experience of middle age.

Many of those TOI spoke to blamed their “young years’’ for what they did and accused the brains behind the blasts of taking “advantage of their immaturity’’. But a few justified the blasts, saying they just fought back in the only way they knew to “stop the continuing atrocities’’ on their community.

Niyaz Shaikh, for instance, who was 22 in 1993, would not call the blasts a “crime’’. It was, instead, “just a reaction to an action’’, he said, explaining that the communal riots in Mumbai constituted the “action’’. “Won’t you react if you see people from your own community being targeted and killed on the streets? You stop atrocities on Muslims and the reaction will also stop,’’ Shaikh said, adding: “I was in my early 20s and never thought I would have to pay such a heavy price for it.’’

But Shahid Qureshi, who was also 22 when the city first tasted terror, had a different take. Qureshi, a class-XII drop-out who resided at Bandra and had gone to Dubai for a job, said many like him were “instigated’’ by the brains behind the 1993 plot who then “fled’’ the country. Qureshi, charged with aiding and abetting the blasts, allegedly received training in operating firearms that included AK-47.

“I was a lot more immature at that time and we participated in the plot as we were instigated into retaliating somehow for the killings of Muslims in the city and across the country after the demolition of the Babri Masjid,’’ Qureshi told TOI this August.

TOI spoke to others like Qureshi but they would not come on record. All of them agreed that they would not have participated in the blasts conspiracy had it not been for the “instigation’’ by the absconders and “provocation’’ in the form of atrocities on Muslims.

The Times of India, September 20, 2006

Mateen Hafeez | TNN Mumbai: Many of the accused in the 1993 serial blasts case were in the 20-25 age-group 13 years back. Some of them spoke to TOI a

Court Convicts Two Of Those Who Planted Bombs That Maimed Mumbai. But Some Uncomfortable Questions Remain

Mateen Hafeez | TNN

Mumbai: The sisters of Shahnawaz Qureshi — who married a Hindu girl before becoming one of Mumbai’s first home-grown terrorists — have got a lot of questions to ask of the system.
Qureshi is accused number 29 in the 1993 serial blasts case. He was convicted of planting the explosives at Plaza theatre, which killed 10 and injured 36.

“The police caught our brother and the court convicted him. But what about those involved in communal riots, raping Muslim women, killing innocent boys, demolishing the Babri Masjid? What have the police done about all that?’’ Najma, the eldest of the 12 siblings, asked on Monday after getting the low-down on his conviction from the television. The sisters, residents of J J Colony in Bandra (W), work as domestic helps, each earning around Rs 1,000 a month; they also double up as zari weavers in their spare time. Their parents passed away — it was “trauma’’, the sisters said on Monday — and Qureshi went without a lawyer as the family had no money. The family justifies Qureshi’s act. “Where was the government when hundreds of Muslims were killed in Surat, Mumbai, women raped and our mosque was demolished? Four of our relatives were killed in the communal riots. Is the police paid to arrest Muslims only?’’ another sister, Parveen, asked.

Qureshi married a Hindu girl, Chhaya (now Noor Jehan), and had a two-month-old son, Faisal, when he was arrested. The family, however, has not allowed poverty to ruin the boy’s future; Faisal, now called Babloo, studies in an English-medium school in Bandra (W). “My mother works as a domestic help and gets around 2,500 a month,’’ the boy, now 13 years old, said. But he does not know what his father is accused of.

But why did he plant the bomb? “He was provoked by his friends. The big men (the prime conspirators) escaped but the small fry like Qureshi were arrested,’’ Parveen said.

But the family has no photograph of Qureshi with it. “We tore and burnt all his photographs as we were afraid of police harassment,’’ one of the sisters added.

THE MEN BEHIND THE PLAZA DEATHS

ASGAR MUKADAM Age: 45 Residence: Versova Did for a living: Worked as an accountant for Tiger Memon
The Charges
Facilitated the landing of arms and explosives at Shekhadi, Raigad, in February 1993 Attended meetings at a co-conspirator’s residence Transported RDX to Al-Husseini (building where Memons lived) on the night of 11 March 1993 Collected money from co-accused Mulchand Shah for disbursal among conspirators Planted explosives at Plaza
The Verdict
GUILTY: Of transporting RDX to Al-Husseini building, collecting money for disbursal among other conspirators and planting explosives at Plaza

SHAHNAWAZ QURESHI Age: 48 Residence: Nargis Dutt Colony, Bandra Reclamation Did for a living: Wholesaler of mutton
The Charges
Facilitated the landing of arms and explosives at Shekhadi, Raigad, in February 1993 Attended meetings at a co-conspirator’s residence Transported RDX to Al-Husseini (building where Memons lived) on the night of 11 March 1993 Had weapons training in Pakistan Planted explosives at Plaza
The Verdict
GUILTY: Of receiving weapons training, helping in transportation of arms to Mumbai and planting explosives at Plaza

The Times of India, September 19, 2006

Faith and frustration in court

THE SHOW GOES ON: Actor Sanjay Dutt arrives at the Tada court on Thursday for the serial blasts hearing

Mateen Hafeez and Nina Martyris | TNN

Mumbai: They filed in barefoot. At the bottom of the narrow stairway leading to the Tada courtroom lay a scuffed tangle of leather and plastic sandals, chappals and shoes, one large expensive pair belonging to Sanjay Dutt.

The ceremony of the accused having to remove their footwear before entering the courtroom—a cautionary measure introduced in 1946 after a slipper was flung at a sitting judge who didn’t duck—was not always insisted upon in judge P D Kode’s court. But then, August 10 was a special day. This was evident from the frisson in the packed courtroom, located within Arthur Road jail.

Many of the accused, anxious but expectant, had risen as early as three in the morning to say the Tahajjud namaz, a special namaz offered by those going through times of trouble. “We were both excited and worried. We woke up early, took a bath and after the ritual vazu (washing of face, hands and legs), we prayed to Allah for justice,’’ said an undertrial who has been in Arthur Road jail for 12 years. He explained that the Tahajjud namaz was most effective when offered at a quiet time, say past midnight, when the rest of the world was asleep.

Another accused said that for the last two days he had been reading the Ayetal Kursi, a prayer recited in times of crisis. A few came to the courtroom wearing their skullcaps.

Pressed up against each other on the benches, the men and women accused of one of the most brutal acts of terror in post-Independence India made for a strange mix—some allegedly in the employ of the DCompany, others small-time traders and jobbers who had been sucked into the maelstrom of terror when they were hotheaded youngsters barely out of their teens. Many were from families that had suffered terribly during the Babri riots.

The oldest accused was an 85-year-old man who, along with his son, has been in Arthur Road jail for years.

“There are all types of people here,’’ said an accused, signalling to the different apparel ranging from shalwar-kurtas to tight jeans. There were also those who were more shabbily dressed, like the young man who said he used to be a butcher in Bandra before being arrested 12 years ago. “There are rich and poor accused—some from high families, middle-class families like me, and very low families who survive on zakat (the Islamic 2.5% tax incumbent on the faithful).’’

Trying unsuccessfully to be unobtrusive in one corner was the hulking figure of Sanjay Dutt, his recent Shirdi trip adding renewed vigour to his one-line take on life. “God is great,’’ he said, pointing heavenward.

Visibly tense in the first row sat Tiger Memon’s brother Yakub, a quiet man, who according to his jailmates kept his distance and spent time “writing applications and reading tragedies and historicals’’.

There was also anger among the accused at the fact that the real masterminds had escaped while they, the small fry, were still paying dearly. It was from the Memon house in Mahim that the RDX that killed 257 Mumbaikars was dispatched, some of it in his wife Raheena’s car. Raheena, who studied at Cannossa Convent in Mumbai, sat separately with four other women accused. “We have faith in the judiciary,’’ she said.

But others were in no mood to be so charitable about the September 12 postponement.
“Tareekh pe tareekh, tareekh pe tareekh, kab khatam hogi yeh tareekh?’’ said one undertrial, mouthing the dialogue from a Sunny Deol film. In another outburst of frustration, a young man declared, “Justice delayed is justice denied. That’s what we were taught in school.’’ A co-accused chipped in with, “Shakespeare said that,’’ an interjection which for some reason only enraged the first. “Shut up, it wasn’t Shakespeare. It was in our school.’’

After the hearing was over, the men stood around outside, smoking and talking to their lawyers with their police escorts looking on. Over the years, a certain camaraderie has developed between the policemen and the accused—the inevitable consequence of 13 years of being handcuffed to each other’s lives.

The Tada court—a long, down-at-heel hall with peeling walls and mikes that never work—is second home to these 116 men and seven women.

For 13 years, their lives have been dictated by the dates of this courtroom and the arguments within it. As the joke goes, there’s such an intimate sense of home that they even walk around barefoot.

Munnabhai Sanjay
Sanjay Dutt was accompanied by his brother-in-law, actor Kumar Gaurav, sister Priya Dutt and her husband. However, only he was allowed to enter the court premises. Later, as he was leaving the court accompanied by his lawyer Satish Maneshinde, the actor stopped briefly before the cameras and said in trademark Munnabhai style, “Phukat main date mil gayi. Lamba ho gaya mamla.’’ TNN

1993 BLASTS CASE End nears for longest trial in history

Kartikeya | TNN
Mumbai: With designated Tada judge P D Kode making it clear that he will begin pronouncing the judgment in the 1993 serial blasts case from September 12, the curtain may be coming down on what has been the longest criminal trial in history.

The Nuremberg Trials to punish Nazi war criminals pale in comparison—only four years were spent in court. They too were conducted in unique circumstances, with the Soviets first asking for a courtroom in Berlin, which in 1945 fell in the neutral zone. The Western block, however, stuck to its guns and Nuremberg, which fell in US-controlled occupied Germany, was chosen as the venue.

The Palace of Justice, where the judges sat, was convenient not only because it housed a prison on its premises, but also because it was the only
building in the city to have survived the Allied bombing during the war. The trial was conducted by four judges and four prosecutors against 24 war criminals who had formed the elite in Hitler’s regime.

In contrast to the 11-year-long 1993 blasts trial, the longest criminal trial in America lasted only three years. Popularly known as the McMartin case, it involved the members of a family charged with child abuse. The longest case in Britain lasted only a few months—from May to December 1972—when members of an anarchist society called the Angry Brigade were tried for a series of bombings.

Legal luminary Yusuf Mucchala said, “There were 686 witnesses and 123 accused in the case and under the principles of natural justice every accused person’s lawyer has the right to cross-examine every witness. That in itself is so many years of court work.’’

An artist’s impression of the heavy security and media presence outside the Arthur Road jail on Thursday

The accused being searched and escorted into the Tada court, which is inside the jail premises

Special Tada judge P D Kode hears arguments from special prosecutor Ujwal Nikam as he presides over the court proceedings in the 1993 serial blasts trial on Thursday

The Times of India, August 11, 2006