The special TADA court has found Mohammed Shoaib Ghansar, accused number 9 in the 1993 serial blasts case, guilty of 14 charges levelled against him, primarily parking a RDX-laden scooter, which led to the Zaveri Bazaar blast that killed 17 persons and injured 57. The maximum punishment he can get is death, the minimum is life imprisonment.

Delivering the verdict today, judge Pramod Kode said: “Foremost, the confession recorded under Section 15 of TADA by prosecution witness DCP P K Jain has been accepted. After marshalling the evidence, accused No 9 has been found guilty.”

Kode said Ghansar has been found guilty of packing the scooter with RDX along with some of the other accused and planting it in Zaveri Bazaar. This establishes guilt under section 3(2) of TADA, he said.

No evidence has been found against him in connection with the landing and transportation of RDX and arms in Shekhadi or facilitating prime accused Tiger Memon`s escape by getting his passport and ticket from the residence of Mubina Bhiwandiwala.

Only two eye-witnesses were examined and both could not identify Ghansar. Among those who gave evidence against him were some of the injured and relatives of a blast victim.

Ghansar (43), wearing a white kurta-pyjama and barefoot, looked tense as the charges were read out. When

Kode asked him if he understood the charges against him, Ghansar muttered that he hadn`t done anything and that his reputation was at stake.