Century Bazaar bomber found guilty

Abdul Gani Turk, accused number No. 11 in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and a former driver of Tiger Memon, was today found guilty of parking an RDX-laden jeep at Worli8217;s Century Bazaar that killed 113 people and injured 227, the highest casualty in a single explosion that day.

Abdul Gani Turk, accused number No. 11 in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case and a former driver of Tiger Memon, was today found guilty of parking an RDX-laden jeep at Worli8217;s Century Bazaar that killed 113 people and injured 227, the highest casualty in a single explosion that day.

Pronouncing the verdict, special TADA Court Judge Pramod Kode said Turk was convicted on 13 counts on the basis of his confession and the evidence given by an eyewitness. The maximum sentence he could get is death, the minimum is a life term.

At 2.45 pm on March 12, 1993, the blast at the bazaar was so powerful that it lifted a five-tonne double-decker bus and blew away its upper deck into a slum nearby. There were no survivors on board. Even the bodies couldn8217;t be identified.

In court today, as the judge read out the order, Turk looked unperturbed, and unlike some of the seven others found guilty in the case before him, didn8217;t react. Turk was also found guilty of participating in the landings of arms and ammunition in Shekhadi at Raigad and loading RDX into vehicles the night before the blasts, along with others.

8220;Reliance has been placed on a single eyewitness. His evidence given in court has been found to be inimpeachable and trustworthy in establishing guilt,8217;8217; said judge Kode.

The judge also took Turk8217;s confession recorded by then DCP PK Jain into consideration and said that it 8220;has been found to have been made voluntarily and is consistent with facts and circumstances of the other evidence recorded8217;8217;.

A second confession was recorded, but was discarded by the court on the ground that it was not properly done.

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Turk was, however, acquitted of charges of having participated in meetings with some of the co-accused who planned the bombings. The judge said though there is evidence that he went for the meetings, he was not present in the room where the meetings were held and was standing outside.

Also, the charge against him that he had participated in arms training in Sandheri and Bhorghat villages could not be proved against Turk. Judge Kode said that there8217;s only evidence that Turk was present at the training, but there was nothing to prove that he was participating in it. The defence8217;s argument that since Turk was Tiger Memon8217;s employee, he was compelled to do as ordered didn8217;t hold as it 8220;cannot be stretched to the extent of committing a crime8217;8217;, the judge said. 8220;But that fact will be taken into consideration while deciding the quantum of sentence.8217;8217;