If the orgy of violence in December and January of 1993 in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition shattered the myth of Mumbai's cosmopolitanism, the powerful RDX-triggered explosions dealt a benumbing blow to the collective consciousness of the metropolis which remains a soft target after facing six major terror attacks in 22 years.
As Rakesh Maria, then a young Deputy Commissioner, and now Mumbai’s police commissioner, and his team of crime branch officials followed lead after lead, the huge seizures of explosives, arms and ammunition shocked Mumbai, and indicated that the serial bombings conspirators had prepared for virtually a war.
The first seizure was made on March 12, the day of the serial explosions. As it became clear that vehicles filled with explosives were used in the serial explosions, the Mumbai police began searching for more such suspicious vehicles parked across Mumbai. The first clue was provided by a Maruti van (no MFC 1972) abandoned behind Siemens factory in Worli in central Mumbai. The search led to the seizure of seven AK-56 rifles, four handgrenades, 14 magazines of AK-56 and one time pencil.
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Investigations showed later that Tiger Memon’s associates Mohammed Usman, Shaikh Ali, Javed Chikna, Bashir Khan, and Nasir Ahmed alias Babloo had left the Memon residence at Al Husseini building at Mahim for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMMC) headquarters in South Mumbai. Mumbai police claimed the intention was to gatecrash into the building, and gun down corporators belonging to the Sena-BJP, some of whom were active during the December-January riots, to spark off fresh communal riots.
However, unaware of the RDX-laden car bomb placed at Century Bazaar, their car passed the Worli blast site and escaped the impact of the blast by a whisker. In panic, the group abandoned the car, and fled. This car's registration eventually led the police to the Memon family and the Al Husseini building in Mahim setting off the chain of events that unearthed the conspiracy and its contours.
It took 10 more days for the Maria-led team to gather more information about the huge quantities of arms and ammunition smuggled into Mumbai during the two arms landings by Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, and Mohammed Dossa’s smuggling network operating on the picturesque Konkan coast. The two landings took place in January and February, 1993 at Shekhadi, and Dighi jetties in Shrivardhan tehsil of Raigad district, investigations showed later.
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On March 23, 1993, the crime branch team seized 12 AK-56 rifles, 67 AK-56 magazines, 195 handgrenades, 5308 rounds of AK-56 ammunition, 600 electric detonators, five 9mm pistols and 12 9mm pistol magazines from a handcart in Lohar Chawl, close to the Crawford Market headquarters of the Mumbai police. The same day, two AK-56 rifles, and 195 live rounds of AK-56 were seized from Andheri in western suburbs.
But, the deadly RDX stocks were still elusive. Maria’s team achieved a big success on March 26, nearly a fortnight after the serial blasts, when it raided a ground floor flat of an uninhabited, under construction building in Mobin Nagar in Mumbra in Thane, and seized 1034 kg of RDX along with 574.5 kg of gelatine stored there among cement gunny bags. On the same day, other teams also seized 105 hand-grenades from Jungli Peer durgah in Worli in central Mumbai and 13 AK-56 rifles from Mhasala in Raigad. A day later, 85 hand-grenades, 3270 AK-56 bullets, and 350 electric detonators were seized from Musafirkhana in South Central Mumbai.
As the police continued to piece together the conspiracy, April brought in more seizures. The police seized 12 AK-56 rifles and 19500 rounds of ammunition from Mhasala in Raigad district. Next day, the police seized 44 magazines of AK-56 rifles and 9000 live rounds dumped in Kundalwala creek in Mhasala, Raigad district.
The biggest seizure of the whole operation came when divers pulled out gunny bags with 1,250 kg of Kala Sabun (black soap), as the black-coloured RDX was called in smuggling lingo, from the bed of Nagla Bunder creek in Thane. Another 558 kg of gelatine dumped in the creek by the conspirators to conceal the explosive was also seized. Another 29 kgs of RDX was seized from China creek not far from Nagla Bunder.
During the one and half month long investigations, a total of 2313 kgs of RDX, 1132 kgs of gelatine, 63 AK-56 rifles, 496 hand-grenades, and 39000 rounds of live rounds of AK-56, and 9mm was seized in 33 different case in Mumbai, Thane, and Raigad districts.