1993 Mumbai Blasts Case: Abu Salem Sentenced To Life, Death For Tahir Merchant And Feroz Khan

The Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (TADA) Court today (7 September ) sentenced Abu Salem to life in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case and awarded death sentence to Tahir Merchant and Feroz Khan. The special court also sentenced Karimullah Khan to life imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him.

The TADA court had on 16 June convicted Abu Salem Abdul Qayoom Ansari, Mustafa Ahmed Umar Dossa alias Mustafa Majnu, Firoz Khan, Taher Mohd. Merchant alias Taher Taklya, Karimulla Osan Khan alias Karimullah Hussain Habib Shaikh and Riyaz Ahmed Siddiqui under sections of the TADA, the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Explosives Act for perpetrating the blasts. While the court had acquitted Abdul Qayum Karim Shaikh of all charges, Mustafa Dossa who was lodged at the Arthur Road jail died of cardiac arrest on 28 June.

The blasts that ripped through the financial capital of India on 12 March 1993 had killed 257 people and injured more than 700. The attacks were planned by Dawood Ibrahim, India’s ‘most wanted’ fugitive, believed to be hiding in Pakistan.

Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai. He was arrested in Portugal in 2002. Some charges against him, which the Central Bureau of Investigation said went against the extradition treaty between India and Portugal, were dropped by the court. According to senior prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam, the prosecution could not ask for the death penalty for Salem due the extradition agreement.