1993 Mumbai blasts case: Prosecution seeks death for five

Mumbai city news: The five against whom the prosecution sought capital punishment were Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Firoz Khan, Karimullah Khan and Tahir Merchant

The prosecution in the March 1993 Mumbai blasts case on Thursday sought death penalty for five of the six convicted by the designated special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court on Friday.

Abu Salem being taken to the court. (HT)

The five against whom the prosecution sought capital punishment were Mustafa Dossa, Abu Salem, Firoz Khan, Karimullah Khan and Tahir Merchant. The maximum punishment for the offences proved against the sixth, Riyaz Siddique, is imprisonment for life, and the prosecution has sought the maximum punishment for him.

Special public prosecutor Deepak Salvi said the court should take into consideration the number of people who were killed and injured in the series of blasts. “257 people died and 713 others were badly injured. These two figures are sufficient to show the brutality of the act committed by the accused,” Salvi said.

Talking about the larger conspiracy which the accused had hatched and the magnitude of the effect it could have caused to the city, had it been materialised, Salvi reminded the designated TADA court that “around 1,500 kg of the RDX was brought in the city and it was enough to destroy the entire city of Mumbai. Lots of innocent people have died for no fault of theirs. This should be considered while awarding maximum punishment to the convicts.” The special prosecutor pointed out that though India has moved towards abolishing capital punishment, it is widely accepted that in the cases of terrorist attacks, death penalty is the only option available.

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