'93 blasts convict faints in court

Niyaz Ahmed Shaikh, convicted in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case, fainted on Thursday in the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention Act) court while giving his statement on quantum of sentence.

Designated Judge P D Kode summoned a doctor to examine him and he was later taken back to the jail.

Earlier in his statement before the court, he said in the 1992 communal riots in Mumbai, his house was badly damaged and he was forced to escape with his seven-year-old sister.

Niyaz told the court that at that point of time he had two options before him - either to go to Pakistan or to go to a kabristan. He decided to choose the former.

He pleaded for leniency, saying he had already been in custody for thirteen-and-a-half years and broke down before fainting.

The court had, on October 3, held Niyaz guilty of conspiracy in the 1993 bomb blasts case. He was also found guilty of obtaining training in Pakistan and attending conspiracy meetings at the residence of co-accused.

Besides, he was held guilty of surveying Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai building, a potential target for the blasts, alongwith prime accused Tiger Memon.