Bomber guilty of 1993 Mumbai blasts

A Muslim bomber has been convicted of murder for planting one of a series of bombs that ripped through India’s commercial capital, Mumbai, in 1993 killing 257 people.

Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt is among the defendants

Twelve bombs placed in scooters, cars, jeeps and hotel rooms were exploded over a two-hour period in the city.

Mohammed Kasam Ghansar faces a possible death sentence for killing 17 people and wounding 57 after leaving a scooter packed with explosives outside a market in Mumbai that was primed to detonate minutes after he walked away.

He has been held without bail since his arrest 13 years ago.

Group sentences

Four people have already been found guilty in the case, while three others were acquitted.

A total of 123 men and women, most of them Muslims, are accused of involvement in the bombings.

Seven other defendants, Asgar Mukadam, Abdul Turk, Parvez Sheikh, Bashir Khairulla, Dawood Phanse, Mohammed Farooq Pawale and Sharif Parkar, are also accused of planting bombs and are awaiting verdicts on Thursday.

The most well-known defendant is Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, who was arrested after two suspects said he had bought an assault rifle from them.

The actor was freed on bail after more than a year in prison.

Judge Pramod Kode said verdicts would be handed out in groups and sentencing for all those convicted would be pronounced afterward, a process likely to take at least two months.

The blasts were apparently carried out in revenge for the demolition of a 16th-century mosque in northern India by Hindu nationalists.

Source: News Agencies