1993 blasts: Air India bomber gets death

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Last updated on: July 25, 2007 14:40 IST

One person was sentenced to death Wednesday for planting bombs near the Air India building and Sena Bhavan during the 1993 serial blasts.

Farooq Pawle, who was awarded the sentence today, is the 11th convict to be awarded capital punishment for his involvement in carrying out 12 serial blasts on March 12, 1993, that killed 257 people and injured over 700.

He was awarded the death sentence on five counts which included conspiracy, commission of a terrorist and murder.

Pawle had planted a vehicle filled with explosives and fitted with a timer device at the Lucky Petrol pump near the Shiv Sena party headquarters, Sena Bhavan, in central Mumbai and the resulting blast killed four persons and injured 38.

He was also part of a group that parked a car filled with RDX opposite the Bank of Oman near the Air India building in south Mumbai, which exploded killing 20 and injuring 87.

Special TADA judge P D Kode held that the purpose of planting the vehicle bomb at a petrol pump was to cause "massive damage".

The court also observed that Pawle and two others had surveyed the Bombay Stock Exchange building in south Mumbai on March 10 in order to carry out a blast there.

The court has so far sentenced 92 of the 100 persons convicted for their role in the blasts and 17 have been awarded the life sentence.

Eight persons, including actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted for illegal weapons possession, and four members of the Memon family are yet to be sentenced by the court.

Pawle, who is undergoing psychiatric treatment, was lying on the benches at the back of the courtroom while the sentence was being announced by the court and a court clerk had to go to him to tell him the same.

After sentencing Pawle, Judge Kode observed that the major portion of the sentencing had been completed.

Dutt, who remains to be sentenced, has been convicted under the Arms Act for illegal possession of a pistol and an assault rifle and faces between five to ten years imprisonment.

The actor, who had spent a year in jail after being arrested, has sought an exemption of a prison term under the Probation of Offenders Act, and the court is still to give its judgment on the application filed by him.

The four members of the Memon family, which includes three brothers of prime absconding accused Tiger Memon, are to be sentenced after they were convicted on charges of participating in the conspiracy to carry out the blasts.

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