In January 1993, as riots raged in Mumbai, a middle-class Muslim worker, fearing his family's safety, bought a pistol. In another part of the city, an actor, ostensibly to protect his family procured an AK-56, a Chinese 9mm pistol and ammunition.
Fourteen years later, the former -- Ehsaan Qureshi -- was found guilty under Section 5 (5) of TADA and was sentenced to five years in prison and fined Rs 25,000 on Tuesday. The latter -- Sanjay Dutt -- meanwhile has been charged under the Arms Act for possessing an illegal weapon and awaits his verdict.
"What kind of justice is this? My husband was a decent man. He got so scared about our family's safety that he bought a pistol through a friend," said Firdaus Jahan Quereshi, Ehsaan's wife, as their 14-year-old daughter Urooj Quereshi looks on.
Ehsaan, his wife said, was leading a normal life -- running a small marble business at Vakola. They got married back in 1992 and were residents of Malad.
"My husband was the sole bread winner. After he was arrested, we had to rely on some relatives and wellwishers," she said.
She said Ehsaan discarded the gun after the blasts. However, the cops came looking for him soon after they arrested the person who had given him the gun.
Ehsaan has already spent nine months in prison.
Recalling the days when her husband was in prison, Firdaus says: "I had gone through a number of difficult situations. I love my husband and also my daughter. As of now, I am more concerned about my daughter. Now I am both her father and mother and will have to fulfill all her requirements," she said.
UNI adds:
Among the four dismissed Customs officials, who were awarded sentences by the designated court on Tuesday in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, some had come to the court-room carrying photographs of Lord Rama and Sai Baba hoping for mercy.
Dismissed assistant Customs collector, bespectacled R K Singh, had come with a book on Lord Rama. He heard the sentence quietly and left the witness box thereafter.
Sudhanu Talawekar, another dismissed Customs superintendent, had come carrying photographs of Sai Baba. He kept gazing at the ground and when the court pronounced the sentence, broke down and went to the docks along with other convicts.
Dismissed Customs inspector Jayant Grau urged with folded hands that he be awarded a mild punishment like the police constables who were also involved in the landing of the consignment.
The court, however, pointed out that he had wanted to know from Tiger Memon whether the consignment contained silver and had, thus, made a mockery of his position. He, too, broke down when the court pronounced the sentence.
The youngest of the convicts to be awarded the sentence on Tuesday was 33-year-old Zameer Qadri. He, too, was seen praying. The court while awarding the life sentence to him, pointed out that if he had not helped Tiger Memon in landing the consignment of explosives, the terrible blasts would not have occured.
Qadri had been arrested with great difficulty and had been declared a proclaimed offender. He had carried a reward on his head.
"Now, I will have to spend my life within the four walls of the jail," he was heard muttering.
After the pronouncement of the sentences today, the total number of convicts in the blasts case who have been awarded punishment has risen to 43. There are a total of 100 convicted persons.