1993 Mumbai serial blasts: Facts related to the bombings

On March 12, 1993, Mumbai was rocked by a series of 13 blasts.

NEW DELHI: A special TADA court is pronouncing its judgement in the second leg of the trial in 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case involving seven accused including extradited gangster Abu Salem. In the first leg of the trial that concluded in 2007, the TADA court had convicted 100 accused in the case, while 23 people were acquitted. The trial of the seven accused -- Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Abdul Quayyum -- were separated from the main case as they were arrested at the time of conclusion of the main trial. Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai. On March 12, 1993, Mumbai was rocked by a series of 13 blasts, targeting business locations, five-star hotels, airline office and stock exchange etc.. The dastardly attacks had left 257 people dead, 713 seriously injured and destroyed properties worth Rs 27 crore. The following are a few facts related to the the blasts: Targets: Bombay Stock Exchange (84 killed/217 injured) Air-India building (20 killed/87 injured) Zaveri Bazaar (17 killed/57 injured) Katha Bazar (4 killed/21 injured) Century Bazaar (113 killed/227 injured) Sena Bhavan (4 killed/50 injured) Mahim Causeway (3 killed/6 injured) Plaza Theatre (10 killed/37 injured) Hotel SeaRock (no casualties) Juhu Centaur Hotel (3 injured) Airport Bay-54 (no casualties) Airport Centaur Hotel (2 killed/8 injured) Naigaum X-Road (unexploded) Dhanji Street (unexploded) * Investigation was directed by then joint commissioner of police M.N. Singh, who later became police commissioner, and then DCP Rakesh Maria, who is currently the police commissioner. * A special court was set up under the draconian TADA Act (later repealed), inside the Arthur Road Central Jail. Fifteen years later, the jail was the scene of another sensational trial, the November 26, 2008, Mumbai terror attacks. * For nearly 15 years in the 1993 blasts case, four judges conducted the trial -- Special Judge J.N. Patel, Special Judge P.D. Kode, Special Judge U.D. Mulla and Special Judge G. Sanap. * Then 39-year-old criminal lawyer from Jalgaon, Ujjwal Nikam (now 62) was appointed the special public prosecutor. With his string of legal successes, he later handled many important cases like the 2008 terror attacks, the Pramod Mahajan murder trial, the 2013 Shakti Mills gang rape case, the Gulshan Kumar murder case, etc. * Main trial for the 1993 blasts continued for nearly 15 years and some accused are still being tried. * Many convicts challenged the verdict in higher courts, including the Supreme Court, while the prosecution also appealed in some cases seeking enhanced punishment. * During trial, 12 accused died or were killed while on bail, and three died after the verdicts were delivered. * Around two dozen are still 'wanted accused', including Ibrahim alias Tiger Memon, mafia don Dawood Ibrahim etc. * Accused Salim Durrani was a Rhodes scholar and member of the Tonk royal family of Rajasthan, Yakub Memon was a top chartered accountant, the most high-profile convict was leading Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt. * Majority of the accused, convicts were illiterates. * Total arrests made in the case were 193, 27 were discharged by the Special TADA Court, the Supreme Court discharged two; 140 faced trial, two turned approvers. * A total of 686 witnesses examined; 23 acquitted, 99 convicted, one put on probation. (With IANS inputs)