24 years after the 1993 Mumbai blasts killed 257 people and injured 700 others, the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activity (TADA) court on 7 September announced the quantum of punishment to five of the convicts.
Tahir Merchant and Firoz Khan were given the death penalty for their role in the serial blasts.
While Riaz Siddiqui was sentenced to 10 years in prison, Abu Salem, who had been extradited from Portugal, was given life imprisonment. Only if the government of India commutes, the life sentence will be converted to 25 years, as per the Portugal’s extradition treaty.
On 16 June, the court found six persons guilty in the case – deported don Abu Salem, who was extradited from Portugal in 2005; Mustafa Dossa, who died in JJ Hospital on 28 June; Mohammed Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Takla, Karimullah Shaikh; Riaz Siddiqui, and Firoz Khan.
Another prime accused, Abdul Qayyum, has been acquitted of all major charges.
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