On March 12, 1993, Mumbai city was shocked by a series of blasts, later coming to be known as the 1993 Bombay Bombings. This attack was the first of its kind across the world and is said to be a revenge attack against earlier riots that had many Muslims killed.
Sharad Pawar was the then Chief Minister of Maharashtra and he announced that there were a total of 13 blasts in that terrorist attack, that killed 257 people and injured more than 700 people in the city. The attack was said to be coordinated by the underworld’s Dawood Ibrahim, along with Tiger & Yakub Memon.
Many of the people involved in the attack fled the country and were in hiding after these bombings. Among those caught and arrested later include Abu Salem and four others, who worked for Ibrahim’s gang known as D-Company.
Abu Salem was arrested finally in 2002, along with girlfriend Monica Bedi, in Portugal. After a couple of years, they were brought to India, and today was Salem’s final verdict in a TADA court, along with four others involved in the attack.
The prosecution and the defence have been in deliberation since a very long time, with regard to charges of criminal conspiracy, murder and indulging in acts of terrorism that cause death. The final verdict was out today (7th September, 2017) and Abu Salem was handed over a life imprisonment sentence.
Salem has always been known as being involved in the underworld and being a part of terrorist activities. How then, did he not get a death sentence? However, Salem was assured by the Indian government earlier, that he wouldn’t get a jail sentence of more than 25 years.
Key conspirator Mustafa Dossa died with sentencing pending. Two of the five convicted int his case have also been awarded a death sentence – Taher Merchant and Feroze Khan. Along with Salem, Karimullah Khan has also been handed over a life sentence.
Citizens of Mumbai. Have your say. Justice? Injustice? Delayed justice?
