Observing that their acts had “brought disgrace to Islam”, Special TADA Court Judge P D Kode today sentenced three Tiger Memon aides to death for their role in the blasts conspiracy and planting bombs that exploded one after another on March 12, 1993 in Mumbai, killing and injuring scores of people.

The three are the first convicts from among 100 to be given the death penalty in the case. The judge said the sentences are subject to confirmation by the Supreme Court.

One of those sentenced to death — Tiger Memon’s driver Abdul Gani Turk, 51 — had parked an RDX-laden jeep in front of a Udipi restaurant in Century Bazaar, Worli. The blast killed 113 people and injured 227 — the highest casualties in a single explosion that day. The explosion was so powerful that a five-ton double-decker BEST bus passing by was lifted in the air and the upper deck was blown into hutments nearby. There were no survivors in the bus, and the bodies couldn’t even be identified

The other two Memon aides given the death penalty are Parvez Shaikh and Mustaq Tarani.

Rejecting Shaikh’s plea — similar pleas were made by Turk and Tarani — that “the revenge against the demolition of the Babri Masjid and atrocities against Muslims” should be “considered as a mitigating circumstance”, Judge Kode said: “There is no material to show that he was directly affected by it (the riots). It has been held that his act for taking revenge against the atrocities committed against Muslims is negative. These acts (the blasts) brought disgrace to Islam and created unnecessary enmity between Indian citizens. For committing such a heinous act, sentence of death has been announced.”

... contd.