A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Prevention Act Court on Tuesday sentenced Riyaz Siddiqui to life imprisonment in builder Pradeep Jain’s murder case, ANI reported. “The accused acted as a mediator on behalf of gangster Abu Salem (pictured above) and Anees Ibrahim who wanted to purchase property,” Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.
Salem was accused of hiring contract killers to commit the crime. Jain’s brother, Sunil, had said that he had witnessed the murder at their Juhu office on March 7, 1995, and had sustained injuries during the incident. In 2015, the court had found Mehendi Hassan guilty of the murder and held builder VK Jham guilty of extortion, The Times of India reported.
The verdict comes days after a Mumbai court had found Siddiqui, Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Firoz Khan and Tahir Merchant guilty in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case. On September 7, the court had sentenced Siddiqui to 10 years in prison in connection with the blasts case while Salem got life imprisonment.
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