Mumbai: A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court in Mumbai on Friday sentenced five persons to three years in prison for their role in the 1993 Mumbai blasts. This was the first time the court awarded sentences in the case.
Yashwantrao Bhoinkar, Abbas Dawood Shaikhdare, Shahjahan Shaikhdare, Rashid Umar Alware and Sharif Khan Adhikari, who were found guilty under the Customs Act, were also asked to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 each by the TADA judge PD Kode.
The court also ruled that the convicts would have to spend an additional six months in prison if they failed to pay the fine.
The five were convicted of aiding prime blast accused Tiger Memon in smuggling explosives, arms and ammunition at Shekhadi in neighbouring coastal Raigad district.
These explosives were used to carry out a dozen powerful bomb blasts at different locations in the financial capital on March 12, 1993, resulting in the death of 257 people and injuries to nearly 700.
Kode said that he was imposing a fine of Rs 25,000 only considering the financial condition of the five convicts as well the region from which they came from.
The fine is applicable because material submitted to the court revealed that a profit was made by the five persons in smuggling the contraband though they did not know the exact nature of the consignment, the court observed.
Trawlers owned by the Shaikhdares and Bhoinkar will also be seized and two others have been issued notices for providing their boats to Alware and Adhikari for the landing of explosives.
The five, convicted under 135 B of the Customs Act, faced a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment but were eligible for a lower sentence since they have not been convicted in any similar case prior to this.
Speaking after the court proceedings, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the sentencing for the remaining 95 convicted in the case is likely to complete in the next 10-12 days.
On October 10 last year, the court had convicted Bhoinkar and the Shaikhdares, fishermen from Raigad district, who had provided trawlers for ferrying arms and RDX.
The court convicted Alware, a farmer from Raigad, under Customs Act on October 11 for carrying contraband to the house of another accused.
Adhikari, was convicted by the court on October 12.
Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is also among those convicted. He was found guilty under the Arms Act for illegal possession of arms, but was acquitted of charges under the anti-terror law TADA.
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