146;93 blasts: Life term for Tiger Memon aide

A special TADA court today sentenced Tiger Memon8217;s aide 8212; Sardar Khan 8212; to life imprisonment for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts.

A special TADA court today sentenced Tiger Memon8217;s aide 8212; Sardar Khan 8212; to life imprisonment for his involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The court also pronounced 10 years8217; rigorous imprisonment for Ibrahim Moosa Chauhan alias Baba Chauhan for distributing arms to actor Sanjay Dutt.

Chauhan, who was convicted for distributing AK-56 rifles, magazines and hand grenades to Dutt and deceased accused Salim Kurla at the instance of Anees Ibrahim and Abu Salem, was also fined Rs 2.75 lakh. The court directed Sardar Khan to pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh.

Chauhan was found in possession of one AK-56 rifle, 6 rounds of ammunition, 7 magazines, and 25 hand grenades8212;all recovered on April 1 and April 2, 1993. 8220;He kept the weapons at the instance of Anees Ibrahim and not at the instance of Tiger Memon,8221; said Special Judge P D Kode. Chauhan has spent over 6 years in custody.

Sardar Khan has been convicted for:

w Participating in arms training organised by Tiger Memon at Sandheri and Bhor Ghat

w Participating in pre-blasts meetings with the conspirators

w Administering an oath to the co-accused that they would stand by Tiger Memon8217;s plans

w Surveying the BMC building, with a plan to target political leaders

w Participated in the filling of RDX into vehicles on March 11, 1993, which were in the explosions

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8220;As per the co-accused8217;s statements, Khan had participated in all the important events till the last moment. However, he himself did not commit a terrorist act,8221; said Judge Kode.

Judge Kode also sentenced Tiger Memon8217;s hawala operator Mulchand Shah to five years8217; RI and fined him Rs 5 lakh for facilitating and mobilising a hawala fund that was used for the blasts.

Shah was operating a hawala fund called Haathi, from which

Rs 1,09,73,000 was deposited in Memon8217;s account and collected and distributed by Memon8217;s associates. Shah got Rs 18,000 for operating the account. Shah has spent over four years in custody.

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Acting on an application filed by convict Salim Mira Shaikh alias Kutta, Judge Kode passed an order that the jail superintendent should not call him by his alias. The former special judge, J N Patel, had passed a similar order in November 1995.

On June 7, Judge Kode is likely to sentence former senior Customs official S N Thapa, Zaibunnisa Kadri, Mubina Bhiwandiwala and the planter of an unexploded bomb in Naigaum, Imtiaz Ghavate.