The Hindustan Times
Mumbai, Jul 18: The special TADA court on Wednesday awarded the death sentence for the first time to three men convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
In a first for the marathon trial and for special TADA judge Pramod Kode, Parvez Nazir Shaikh, 40, Abdul Gani Ismail Turk, 52, and Mushtaq Tarani, 41, have been sentenced to death.
Convicted for actively participating in the blast conspiracy, their sentence will be confirmed by the Supreme Court.
All three men have been held without bail for over 14 years. The bombs, the three planted at Century Bazaar in Worli, and at Centaur and Sea Rock hotels, claimed the lives of 93 people on March 12, 1993.
Stunned by the death sentences, they broke down as they embraced family members outside the court. Judge Kode only had strong words for the three men. "Acts of these people were not aimed at taking revenge for the atrocities committed on Muslims during the communal riots of 1992-93," he said.
"The acts committed by them have been a disgrace to Islam and the Muslim community… Their plea for lesser punishment stating that their acts were prompted by the demolition of Babri Masjid is negative. None of these convicts were personally affected in the demolition's aftermath. These convicts murdered those people who were innocent, had done no harm to the convicts," he said.
All three have said they will appeal in the Supreme Court.
That fateful day
The 1993 bombings were a series of thirteen bomb blasts that took place in Bombay (now Mumbai), on March 12, 1993. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in the history of India. The single-day attacks resulted in over 250 civilian deaths and 700 injuries. The attacks are suspected to have been coordinated by notorious underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. It is believed that the attacks were carried out in retaliation for the destruction of the historic Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, which resulted in nationwide riots that led to the deaths of hundreds of Muslims and Hindus.