The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activity Court in Mumbai will announce the quantum of sentence against Abu Salem and four others convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case on Wednesday.
On June 16, the court had found Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Karimullah Shaikh guilty in the case, but acquitted Abdul Qayoom. Dossa, who had been held responsible for acquiring weapons used in the attacks from Pakistan, had died on June 28.
On March 12, 1993, at least 257 people were killed and over 700 injured in 12 powerful blasts across Mumbai. Orchestrated by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, the blasts were an act of revenge against the communal riots that swept through Mumbai in December 1992 and January 1993 after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992. At least 900 people were killed in the riots and more than 2,000 were injured – the majority of them Muslims.
Immediately after the explosions, the state government had set up a special court under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act to hold trials in the case. So far, the Tada court has convicted 106 people for their involvement in carrying out the blasts.
Yakub Memon, one of the convicts, was hanged in July 2015. Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was also convicted for his involvement and served jail term first during the trial and then from 2013 to 2016.
Besides the blasts case, Salem is also accused of murder and extortion in several other matters. He has already been sentenced to life in connection with the murder of a Mumbai builder in 1995 and is currently lodged in Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai.
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