Mumbai, July 27: A special POTA court here on Monday convicted all three accused in the 2003 Mumbai twin blasts case that killed 52 persons and injured 100 others.
The court convicted Ashrat Shafique Ansari (32), Mohammed Hanif Sayed (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43) for murder and conspiracy under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), but deferred the announcement of quantum of punishment till August 4.
The three accused, who have been in custody since six years, now face the prospect of being sent to the gallows.
The trial in the case carried on for six years and today’s judgment is the biggest in a terror-related case in Mumbai after the conviction of 100 accused in the 1993 serial blasts case by a special TADA court in 2007.
On August 25, 2003 two blasts had rocked the Gateway of India and the busy Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai. The blasts were carried out by a terror module of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit.
Other two accused – Mohammed Ansari Ladoowala and Mohammed Hasan Batterywala – were discharged at the fag end of the trial following a clean chit given to them by the POTA review committee last year.
Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had examined 103 witnesses to build up the case against the three accused.
A key prosecution witness was the taxi driver whose vehicle was used to plant the bomb at Gateway of India. Police had claimed that it was the driver who led them to the residence of the accused.
–Agencies