Mumbai: The CBI on Tuesday sought capital punishment Mustafa Dossa and Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan, to of the six convicts in the 1993 serial blasts case. It told the Special TADA Court that Dossa’s role was more serious, grave and crucial than that of hanged convict Yakub Memon.
Special TADA court judge GA Sanap is currently hearing arguments of the prosecution on the quantum of sentence. In the second installment of the trial, the court on June 16 convicted five accused, including Dossa and extradited gangster Abu Salem, of murder, conspiracy and sections of the now-repealed Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, while sixth accused Riyaz Siddiqui was convicted only under the TADA Act.
As many as 257 people were killed in the coordinated blasts that ripped through the city on March 12, 1993. The trial of the seven accused — Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Abdul Quayyum — was separated from the main case as they were arrested at the time of conclusion of the main trial. The court acquitted Abdul Quayyum of all the charges.
Special CBI counsel Deepak Salvi told the court that Dossa was one of the brains behind the conspiracy and that his degree of responsibility towards the commission of the crime was the highest. “If not for him (and other absconding accused) the crime would never have taken place,” Mr. Salvi told the court.
He said the first meeting held at Dossa’s Dubai residence had sowed the seeds of the conspiracy. Mr. Salvi argued that Dossa was one of the masterminds and was in a dominant position of authority. He argued that Dossa financed for landing of arms and explosives and sending people to Pakistan for arms training. Dossa had the effective control over the incident and he was one of the architects of the blasts, he said. “Dossa was among the prime conspirators giving instructions to others.” — With PTI inputs
