A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court will on Wednesday pronounce sentence for the 10 people convicted in the case of the triple blasts that rocked the city between December 2002 and March 2003.
The convicts are Saquib Nachan, Ateef Mulla, Hasib Zubeir Mulla, Mohammed Kamil, Noor Ansari, Anwar Khan, Gulam Khotal, Farhaan Khot and Muzammil and Wahib Ansari. (Additional Judge PR Deshmukh had acquitted three others.)
On December 6, 2002, a bomb exploded inside Mumbai Central railway station, leaving 27 persons injured.
On January 27, 32 persons were injured when a bomb went off on a bicycle in the market area of the Vile Parle station.
On March 13, 2003, a bomb exploded in the first class ladies compartment of a Karjat-bound train that had just reached the Mulund station. Eleven passengers had died and 82 injured.
The prosecution has sought capital punishment for Muzammil Ansari and life imprisonment for Saquib Nachan, former general secretary of the SIMI.
Special Public Prosecutor Rohini Salian had said that the court has to balance the act of the accused with the effect on the people and society, and consider the plight of the victims.
She said, “Many have suffered deformity for the lifetime and many are handicapped, while families have lost their dear ones.”
The convicts have been charged with relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, Indian Railways Act, Prevention of Damages of Property Act, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, and the POTA.
