1993 Mumbai blasts: Verdict against Abu Salem on June 16

Abu Salem, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005 for 1995 murder of builder Pradeep Jain

A special court here will, on June 16, deliver its verdict in the March 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case against mafia don Abu Salem and six others, it was announced on Monday.

The seven accused were produced before Special TADA Court Judge G A Sanap here for an ongoing hearing on the judgement date.

Besides Abu Salem, who was extradited from Portugal in 2005, the other accused are Mustafa Dossa, Mohammed Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Takla, Abdul Qayyum, Karimullah Khan, and Riyaz Siddiqui.

Abu Salem, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005 for the 1995 murder of builder Pradeep Jain, is currently lodged in Taloja Central Jail in Raigad.

Earlier, in the same case, the special court had convicted 100 accused, including Yakub Abdul Razak Memon who was hanged on July 30, 2015 and Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was let off the terrorism charges and tried under the Arms Act, served his full sentence and released from jail February 2016.

On the afternoon of March 12, 1993, a series of 13 blasts in quick succession were carried at various locations in Mumbai city and suburbs killing 257 people and injuring another 700 plus.

The blasts were master-minded by absconder mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and carried out by his henchmen, absconder Tiger Memon and others.

Some of the targeted locations included the Air India Building, Bombay Stock Exchange, Zaveri Bazar, then existing five star hotels, Hotel SeaRock and Hotel Juhu Centaur, and others, leading to public and private property worth Rs 27 crore damaged.