Dutt: D-day knock

Mumbai, Oct. 16: The countdown to the big verdict in the 1993 blasts case began today with the judge directing Sanjay Dutt and 25 others to be present in court on Wednesday.

However, judge Pramod Kode is likely to give a final ruling that will decide the fate of the Lage Raho Munnabhai star only after the Diwali holidays.

On Wednesday, Sanjay will make his second appearance at the high-security Arthur Road jail after the court started delivering the verdicts in batches last month. He was among the 123 accused present in the court on September 12 when Kode made public his conclusions and convicted four members of Tiger Memon’s family.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said Sanjay had been summoned only as a formality to ensure the attendance of the accused who are on bail. He clarified that the court is not expected to pronounce the verdict on Sanjay on Wednesday.

Kode convicted four accused in the case and acquitted a policeman, bringing the number of convictions to 47 and acquittals to 17.

In his findings, the court has relied substantially on the confessions of the accused — a trend which should worry Dutt in particular. The actor had admitted possessing an AK-56 rifle supplied to him by co-accused Abu Salem and Baba Musa Chauhan, but had later retracted the confession.

Muzammil Qadri (accused number 25), Khalil Nasir (42), Tulsiram Surve (62) and Gulam Hafiz Shaikh alias Baba (73) were held guilty of charges of facilitating landings of arms and explosives at Shekhadi in Raigad district. Anant Bhoir (69), who had allegedly transported RDX at Nagla Bunder in the neighbouring Thane district, was acquitted.

According to the CBI, Qadri had participated in the criminal conspiracy and was part of the group that helped land the arms in February 1993.

The judge convicted him under Section 3 (3) and 6 of the anti-terror law for his complicity in the act, as well as for the possession of 13 AK-56 rifles and 26 magazines. Co-accused Nasir and Shaikh were found guilty of concealing the contraband.

Surve, the watchman of Wangani microwave relay station, was convicted under Section 3 (3) of the act for allowing key conspirator Tiger Memon to conceal 59 gunny-bags of RDX that had reached Shekhadi.

He was also held guilty under Section 202 of the Indian Penal Code for not informing his superiors. The convictions were based on his confession.

Kode acquitted Bhoir, who was accused of transporting the RDX bags to the Nagla Bunder creek in Thane. Police had seized the bags dumped in the creek. The court said Bhoir had no knowledge the bags contained explosives.