Mumbai, Nov. 2: Two former customs officials accused of conniving with conspirators and facilitating arms landings on the Raigad coast were among the three convicted today by the anti-terror court hearing the 1993 serial blasts case.

The verdict takes the number of convictions to 58 in the historic trial, which has seen 19 acquittals so far.

Former customs superintendent S. S. Talawadekar (accused number 113), former customs inspector Jaywant Gurav (82) and Tiger Memon associate Ayub Ibrahim Qureshi (123) were convicted by special anti-terror court judge Pramod Kode in the first batch of verdicts after Diwali holidays.

The two officials were posted in Raigad district in January and February 1993, when Tiger Memon and his smuggling syndicate offloaded consignments of RDX and other arms in Dighi and Shekhadi villages. According to the CBI, Gurav even piloted the explosives-laden vehicle in his official capacity, sitting next to Memon’s landing agent Uttam Potdar — also convicted earlier — who was at the wheel.

The vehicle was intercepted by sub-inspector Vijay Patil of Shrivardhan police station, but was allowed to go ahead, allegedly in exchange for bribes. For landing the deadly consignment that was later used in the serial explosions, Memon and his associates paid a bribe of Rs 7 lakh.

Kode convicted Gurav and Talawadekar under Section 3 (3) of the anti-terror act for aiding and abetting the blasts conspiracy. The court accepted Gurav’s confession, as well as that of the co-accused and the approver in the case, before arriving at his decision. It also accepted evidence by top customs officials who indicated that the two men had ignored intelligence warnings about possible arms landings to facilitate its entry.

The court felt there was sufficient evidence establishing that Talawadekar was personally present during the landing at Shekhadi. Both officers, however, were acquitted of charges of participating in the conspiracy.

The customs duo, suspended after being arrested in 1993, was dismissed later. After today’s convictions, their bail bonds were cancelled and they were taken into judicial custody.

Kode also convicted Ayub Qureshi on charges of possessing a pistol and 52 live rounds in a notified area under Sections 3 (3) and 5 of Tada and the arms act. The arms and ammunition were part of the same consignment.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said: “The convictions of the customs officials are significant because this is the first time it’s been judicially proven that the customs department had been receiving intelligence about the arms landings, but its officials ignored the warnings and facilitated the landings. This is the first time that customs officials have been convicted under Tada.”

On Friday, verdicts on three others — Mohammed Rafiq Biyariwala (accused no 46), Mohammed Yunus Batomiya (47) and Asif Yusuf Shaikh (107) — could be announced.