1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused Yakub Memon’s petition to commute his death sentence to a life term was rejected by the apex court on Thursday.
In his plea, Memon had pointed out that he had already spent more than 20 years in prison––longer than the 14-year life imprisonment sentence, thereby urging for clemency. The Supreme Court, however, showed none, upholding the judgement pronounced by a Mumbai trial court two years ago.
Last year, President Pranab Mukherjee too had rejected his mercy plea.
Yakub, who was a chartered accountant before he was arrested, is the brother of fugitive terror mastermind Ibrahim Mushtaq ‘Tiger’ Memon. It was Tiger who got Yakub involved in the planning and plotting of the Mumbai serial blasts that killed 257 people and injured 700 on March 12, 1993.
The attack was orchestrated under the supervision of D-Company, headed by Tiger’s boss and the most wanted man in India – Dawood Ibrahim.
While both Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon managed to flee the country, Yakub was not as lucky––getting himself arrested at Kathmandu airport in 1994. The trial court, during his hearing, declared him to be one of the primary masterminds who played a key role in the conspiracy, thus “warranting death penalty”.
Yakub was sentenced to death by an anti-terror court in 2007 after being found guilty of criminal conspiracy and for arranging finances and managing its disbursement through the co-accused in the Mumbai serial blasts case.
The CBI, which probed the blasts, alleged that the blasts were planned by Dawood Ibrahim and others––including Yakub’s brother Tiger Memon, who is currently believed to be hiding in Pakistan.
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