1993 blasts: Dossa's aides guilty

Mumbai: A court which is delivering verdicts in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case on Thursday found two persons guilty of smuggling of arms and RDX into the city.

Uttam Potdar and Salim Mira Shaikh were found guilty of facilitating in landing arms and RDX at Dighi coast in Raigad in February 1993.

Potdar and Shaikh are aides of gangster Mohammad Dossa, who is a key conspirator in the case.

Both were held guilty under laws relating to abetting terrorist acts and for violating provisions of the Arms Act.

The court, however, absolved both on the charges of participating in the conspiracy. Potdar was also found guilty of bribing customs and police officers.

In deciding the verdict, Judge P D Kode accepted Potdar’s confession and the evidence of two eyewitnesses.

The court also found Shaikh guilty of attending a meeting in hotel Persian Durbar in Panvel, Navi Mumbai, to bribe customs officers and policemen for smooth passage of arms and RDX from Raigad to Mumbai.

The court also accepted the evidence of Shaikh's telephonic talks with other accused in Dubai about the landing operations and bribing of officers. The talks were intercepted by police and produced before the court.

Shaikh was arrested in 1994 in Gujarat in another TADA case registered there. He then gave a confession stating his involvement in 1993 bomb blast case. He was later arrested in this case and brought to TADA court here for the trial.

The court accepted Shaikh's confession made before Gujarat police and held that he was guilty of charges under TADA (P) Act.

Outside the court, prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters that today's verdict is significant because the court has given a finding on involvement of both accused in bribing customs and police officers as also their role in helping Mohammed Dossa and his brother Mustaffa Dossa.

While Mohammed is absconding, his brother Mustaffa was extradited in 2003 and is in custody. However, Mustaffa's trial has been separated.

Potdar and Shaikh played a key role in landing operations of arms and RDX at Dighi by using their men in the exercise as without their help the contraband could not have been used in the serial explosion, Nikam said.

The duo accepted the verdict in a normal way. Both face punishment ranging from five years to life. With their conviction, the number of accused held guilty so far in the case has risen to 55.