5 Tiger men held guilty of arms training in Pak

A Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention Act) court in Mumbai has held five aides of prime conspirator Tiger Memon guilty of conspiracy in the 1993 serial bomb blasts and attending a training camp in Pakistan to learn basics of handling arms and explosives as well as make car bombs.

The serial blasts on March 12, 1993 had killed 257 people and injured another 713.

Those convicted are Gul Mohammed Noor Mohammed Shaikh, Mohammed Hanif Mohammed Usman Shaikh, Mohammed Sayed Mohammed Issac, Shaikh Ibrahim Shaikh and Shaikh Usman Khan.

The court observed that the accused had confessed to their involvement since beginning of the conspiracy and there was also corroborative evidence to show that they had gone to Pakistan for weapon training.

The verdict is significant as the court has accepted the Central Bureau of Investigation's case that the conspiracy was not only confined to India but had extended to a foreign soil as the involvement of accused training in Pakistan has come to light, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said.

Judge P D Kode convicted all the five accused under section 120-b of the Indian Penal Code (conspiracy) and section 3 (3) of TADA (P) Act (aiding and abetting terrorist act). All the accused were taken into custody and their bail bonds were cancelled. They would give statements on quantum of punishment on October 3.

They were also found guilty of attending conspiracy meetings in Dubai and Pakistan called by Tiger Memon and his associates.

The judge observed that although they were not part of the inner circle of the conspiracy, their participation in training camps and their consent to go to Pakistan for arms training suggested their active involvement. The judge, while sentencing the accused, said he will take into consideration the extent of their role in the conspiracy.

According to CBI, all the five convicts were part of the group, which had gone to Pakistan via Dubai for arms training at the instance of absconding prime accused Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon in February-March 1993. Their passports did not indicate the Pakistan visit as the prime conspirators had managed to skip the immigration requirements but CBI produced confessions of co-accused and other evidence to show that they had gone to the neighbouring country.

During the training the accused were taught to make car bombs, dismantle assault rifles, using research development explosives (RDX), detonators and hand grenades.

All the five accused who appeared one by one before the judge, accepted their verdict with a blank look on their faces before returning to the dock. Among the 123 accused, 25, including those convicted on Friday, have so far been found guilty.