THE REAL CULPRITS

93 blasts: 2 customs officials, Tiger aide held guilty

November 02, 2006 15:08 IST




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The special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court on Thursday held two customs officials and an aide of prime conspirator Tiger Memon, guilty of aiding and abetting the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

Customs Inspector Jayvant Gurav and Customs Superintendent S S Talawadekar, who were posted in Srivardhan taluka of Raigad in January 1993, were found guilty of helping Dawood Ibrahim and other prime conspirators in allowing arms and RDX to land in Raigad despite having specific knowledge that such contraband was being smuggled by terrorists.

Gurav was also found guilty of piloting a customs jeep alongwith a van filled with RDX and arms to facilitate passage of contraband from Raigad to Mumbai.

He was also found guilty of allowing accused Uttam Poddar -- Tiger Memon's aide -- to drive a customs jeep while he himself sat beside Poddar.

Both Gurav and Talawadekar were found to have accepted bribe from conspirators to aid and abet the terrorist act.

For the first time customs officials have been convicted in the case.

Another accused, Ayub Ibrahim Qureshi, an aide of Tiger Memon, was held guilty of possessing a revolver in a notified area under TADA (P) act.

Judge P D Kode convicted him under Sections 3 (3) and 5 of TADA (P) Act as well as under Arms Act.