Abu Salem, 5 others convicted in 1993 Mumbai blasts case

MUMBAI: A special court found on Friday six men guilty of involvement in a series of blasts in Mumbai in 1993 that killed 257 people and wounded 800.

The anti-terrorism court said Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Mohammed Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Takla, Karimullah Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui and Feroze Abdul Rashid Khan transported weapons and planted bombs, which targeted landmark buildings in the financial hub, including the main stock exchange.

A seventh man was acquitted on a lack of evidence.

Salem was extradited from Portugal in 2005 and Dossa was deported from the UAE.

Investigators had said the bombs were ordered by India’s most-wanted man, gangster Dawood Ibrahim, to avenge the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992.

All of the seven men were arrested between 2003 to 2010.

Arguments to decide on the sentences will begin on Monday, said Deepak Salvi, special prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation, who said he would seek the maximum penalties available for each of the convicted men.

The maximum penalty is death.

“It’s a victory for the CBI, Mumbai police and the people of India who trust in justice,” Salvi told Reuters.

One suspect in the case, Yakub Memon, was hanged in 2015.