Mumbai, Sept. 29: Five Bombay blasts accused have been found guilty of attending a training camp in Pakistan, backing up the CBI’s claim of the involvement of a foreign hand in the serial explosions that killed 257 people on March 12, 1993.
After acquitting five others of the same charge yesterday because of “weak” evidence, Judge Pramod Kode found the five guilty today on the basis of their individual confessions, confessions of co-accused and other corroborative evidence showing they had travelled to Pakistan from Dubai for arms training. They have also been convicted of participating in the conspiracy.
Gul Mohammed Noor Mohammad Shaikh, Mohammad Hanif Mohammad Usman Shaikh, Mohammad Sayed Mohammad Issaq, Shaikh Ibrahim Shaikh Hussein and Shaikh Usman Man Khan were found guilty on charges of aiding and abetting a terrorist act and criminal conspiracy. Out on bail after five years in prison, they are likely to face a sentence ranging from five years to life imprisonment.
The convictions ended the third week of daily hearings of the verdict and took the total number of guilty to 25.
According to the CBI, all the five accused were part of a group which travelled to Pakistan via Dubai for arms training on the instructions of key conspirators Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon in February-March 1993.
The accused were trained to assemble car bombs and to use assault rifles, RDX, detonators and hand grenades. They also attended conspiracy meetings in Pakistan and Dubai convened by Memon and returned to Mumbai via Dubai before the blasts. The CBI has alleged that immigration formalities were skipped when they entered and left Pakistan.
Judge Kode observed that the five were not part of the “inner circle” of the conspiracy but their participation in training camps indicated their involvement in the plot. He said he would consider their role in the conspiracy during the sentencing.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said: “The convictions are very important because for the first time it is judicially accepted that Pakistan has been sponsoring terrorism on its soil. The court had earlier convicted Shahnawaz Qureshi of visiting Pakistan for training, but these five belong to a larger group.”
Nikam said the convictions also bared the role of Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim who, along with Tiger Memon, travelled to Pakistan with them.
Judge Kode recorded the statement of Sarfaraz Phanse, convicted yesterday on charges of participating in the arms landings at Shekhadi in coastal Raigad.
Phanse, whose father Dawood Phanse has also been found guilty of the same charge, told the court he was repentant and pleaded that the time he has spent in prison be taken into account. He has served 11 years.
“Sir, please consider the period and release me,” 40-year-old Phanse told the judge. He faces five years to life in jail.
During the day, accused Moin Qureshi filed an application saying he should be tried by a juvenile court since he was 17 when he was arrested. Nikam argued that there was no such provision under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act. The judge asked the prosecution to file a reply on October 3, when the court meets after Dussehra. Arguments will be heard the following day.
Actor Sanjay Dutt, also an accused, sought and got permission to go and meet his Delhi-based lawyer Rajinder Singh.
