TADA court rejects 1993 serial blasts accused’s plea of transfer to anda cell

Majid had allegedly procured three scooters from a dealer by taking a loan of ₹70,000 from a friend. As per the CBI, the scooters were purchased by Tiger Memon, the mastermind of serial blasts, to plant bombs on March 12, 1993

MUMBAI: A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court recently rejected a plea by Munaf Abdul Majid Moosa Halari, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bombings case, seeking transfer to the Anda cell of the Arthur Road jail. Masjid sought the transfer after allegedly receiving threats.

Mumbai, India - February 10, 2020 : The Gujarat anti-terrorism squad (ATS) on Monday morning arrested Dongri resident Moosa Halari Munaf Abdul Majid alias Munaf, 57, an accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case who was ranked 18th on India’s list of 50 most wanted terrorists sent to Pakistan after the 26/11 terror attacks, from the Mumbai international airport. HT Photo (Hindustan Times)

Special judge VD Kedar, in an order passed on June 20, directed the jail’s superintendent to instead provide Masjid with sufficient security within the prison.

Majid is an alleged gang member of fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar. He had allegedly procured three scooters from a dealer by taking a loan of ₹70,000 from a friend. As per the CBI, the scooters were purchased by Tiger Memon, the mastermind of serial blasts, to plant bombs on March 12, 1993, where twelve bomb blasts occurred across Mumbai. The bombs were placed at key locations in the city – the Bombay Stock Exchange, three five-star hotels, the Air-India building, near the Shiv Sena headquarters at Dadar, the regional passport office, and Zaveri Bazaar. According to a CBI notice, one of the scooters exploded at Zaveri Bazar and two at the Naigaum Cross Road in Dadar. In February 2020, Majid was arrested at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport.

According to Majid’s plea, ever since his transfer to the central prison earlier this month, he has been allegedly receiving threats from rival gangs, influential inmates, and those associated with terrorist organisations. He requested for a transfer to the Anda cell so that he could be safe till the trial concludes.

The jail’s superintendent submitted that the prison can accommodate 999 prisoners but has 3,461 currently. The high-security cell has a capacity for 31 prisoners but has 43 already and no place left for Masjid. He added that the high-security prison houses Abu Salem, a convict in the bombings, gangster Prasad Pujari, Uday Pathak, a gangster accused in the Kuruar quadruple murder case, and a few accused in the Baba Siddiqui murder case. If Masjid is around those prisoners, he may face a threat to his life, said the superintendent.

The court acknowledged the report submitted by the superintendent. The jail authorities had also raised concerns about Masjid’s subsequent conduct if kept in the high-security cell with other high-profile criminals, said the court.

“I am of the view that if the superintendent of prison is directed to provide sufficient security to the applicant while keeping him in a different circle, then it sub-serves the purpose. There is no need to keep the applicant in Anda Cell,” said the court.