BOMBAY, 20 September 2006 — A special court yesterday convicted Abdul Gani Turk, accused No. 11, in the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts outside Century Bazaar, a shopping mall, in Bombay that killed 113 people and wounding 227.
The former driver of Tiger Memon, the prime conspirator who is absconding, faces a minimum sentence of five years in jail and a maximum of capital punishment.
Turk was the lone accused held guilty for the blasts by the Terrorists and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) court here. He was found guilty of loading vehicles with RDX and transporting arms and ammunition leading to the deadliest of the 13 blasts on March 12, 1993.
“Abdul Gani Turk has been found guilty on all four counts he was charged with,” Special Judge P.D. Kode said.
“The accused No. 11 has been found guilty for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code, attempt to murder (Section 307), causing grievous hurt (Section 367), damage to public property and damage of residential property (Sections 435 and 436).
“He has also been found guilty under Section 3, 4 (a)(b) and Section 9-B (1)(b) of the Explosive Substances Act and Section 4 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act,” the special judge said.
The court, however, did not find him guilty on two other charges — participating in arms and grenade training at Sandheri village near Borghat in Maharashtra and participating in the meetings where the conspiracy of the blasts was hatched.
“There was no evidence that the accused had received any arms and hand granade training, even though he was present at Sandheri,” the judge noted.
The 47-year-old man became the 8th person convicted so far over the attacks carried out in revenge for religious clashes several months earlier that left hundreds of Muslims dead. The Hindu-Muslim clashes were sparked by the razing of a mosque in the city of Ayodhya in northern Uttar Pradesh state by Hindu fanatics.
The court also recorded the statement of the of Asgar Mukadam and Shahnawaz Qureshi, who were found guilty Monday of planting explosives at the Plaza Cinema in Bombay, killing 10 people and injuring 39 others.
Mukadam, the former business manager of Tiger Memon, and Qureshi separately pleaded for minimum sentences.
“I was hurt and anguished after the riots in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition. The fallout of the riots in Bombay left me anguished. People with vested interests took advantage of my situation. I always wish that the incidents of the riots prior to the blasts had never happened,” Mukadam told the court.
“I am neither a terrorist nor a hardcore criminal. I prey for mercy from this court. Please give me the minimum punishment,” he pleaded. Denying that he had received any arms training in Pakistan, Qureshi pleaded for mercy.
“I am too frightened and distressed to give any further statement to the court. I seek permission to give a written statement through my lawyer,” the former butcher with a Bandra slaughterhouse and an employee of Tiger Memon said, falling short of breaking down.
