An aide of prime conspirator Tiger Memon and a city builder were held guilty on Thursday by the TADA court for their complicity in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.
Noor Mohammad Khan, a builder, was found guilty of storing in his godown 58 bags of RDX smuggled by Memon, who engineered the blasts, and later disposing of the bags in a creek.
He was held guilty under Section 5 of TADA (P) Act for possessing RDX and Section 201 of IPC for concealing evidence.
Although the godown belonged to Noor Mohammad, there was no evidence to show that he had agreed to store the contraband, hence the court acquitted him under Section 6 of TADA and Explosive Substance Act. He was also acquitted of charges of conspiracy.
Another accused, Liaqat Ali Khan, an alleged aide of Tiger Memon, was found guilty under sections 3 (3) of TADA (P) Act for aiding and abetting terrorist acts by allowing Memon and Yeda Yaqub to store 80 cartons of RDX at his godown and transporting them to other places.
He was also held guilty under Sections 5 and 6 of Explosive Substance Act.
Judge P D Kode accepted the confession of Liaqat while holding him guilty of offences under TADA (P) Act.
However, he was absolved of conspiracy charges because permission to store RDX was given by his father and not him, the court held.
With these two convictions, the number of those found guilty in the case has risen to 81.
Twenty-two others have been acquitted while 20, including actor Sanjay Dutt [Images], have yet to receive the verdict.
© Copyright 2008 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.
|