A special court in Mumbai on Thursday sentenced extradited gangster Abu Salem to life imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.
The court also announced death penalty for Taher Merchant and Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan, while Karimullah Khan was sentenced to life imprisonment. Riyaz Siddiqui, who had been found not guilty of conspiracy, was given a punishment of ten years’ of imprisonment.
A special TADA court in June had convicted all the accused, including mastermind Mustafa Dossa and Salem, in the blasts case, 24 years after it ripped through the financial capital of the country, killing 257 people and injuring many of them.
The case against Mustafa Dosa was closed after he suffered a fatal heart attack in June this year. Abdul Quayyum, another accused was let off, for want of evidence. All of them were facing multiple charges which included criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Government of India and murder.
Immediately after the verdict was announced, Congress in-charge of communications Randeep Surjewala said that justice has finally prevailed in the case. He also hoped that terrorists Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon would meet similar fate in the future.
He also credited the party for extradition of Abu Salem from Portugal in 2005. Taking to Twitter he said, “Justice prevails in Mumbai blasts with life imprisonment of Abu Salem. 104 accused convicted so far. Next should be Dawood Ibrahim and Memon.”
