2003 Mumbai blasts accused get death sentence

EnlightenedMonk

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2003 Mumbai blasts accused get death sentence

A special POTA court in Mumbai has awarded death sentence to the three accused held guilty last week for the 2003 blasts that killed over 50 people.

This is the first time a husband and wife have been held guilty of terror activities in the country.

The court had held them guilty of conspiracy, murder and also under the prevention of terrorism act or POTA. The is the biggest blasts case after the 1993 serial blasts trial and took six years to complete.

The special POTA judge M R Puranik had convicted Ashrat Ansari (32), Hanif Sayed Anees (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43) last week for their role in carrying out the blasts in which 52 persons were killed and 100 injured.

Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had asked for stringent punishment. During the trial, Nikam examined 103 witnesses, including an accused Zahid Patni, who turned approver. Patni unravelled the details of the conspiracy which was apparently hatched in Dubai by LeT members.

Another star witness of the prosecution was a taxi driver Shivnarayan Vasudev Pandey. His taxi was used by the Sayed family a day before and on the day of the blast.

The trio was convicted under sections of IPC for conspiracy, murder and attempt to murder. They were also found guilty under sections of POTA, Explosives Act, Explosive Substances Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

The convicts were also involved in placing an unexploded bomb in a bus at suburban SEEPZ on December 2, 2002, and another explosive device in a bus at Ghatkopar on July 28, 2003 in which two persons were killed due to the explosion.

However, Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT, to which the three were linked, decided to conduct high intensity explosions, and hence powerful bombs were planted at two taxis in Zaveri Bazaar and Gateway of India on August 25, 2003.
2003 Mumbai blasts accused get death sentence
 

EnlightenedMonk

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Three sentenced to death for 2003 twin blasts in mumbai

THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2003 TWIN BLASTS IN MUMBAI

Six years after the twin blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar, which left 53 people dead, a special POTA Court in Mumbai has sentenced three convicted persons - Mohammed Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimida and Ashrat Shafique Ansari - to death.

The prosecution said that this was the rarest of rare case. Prosecution had asked for a death sentence for all three convicts in the last hearing, pointing out the blasts were carried out with "exceptional cruelty". The prosecution also said that the twin blasts were a gruesome crime.

The court observed that "it was the murder charges levelled against the the three that led the court to give death penalty".

Defence argued that Fahmida should be given a lenient sentence as she followed the orders of her husband and that she had her children to look after but the argument was rejected by the court. After the sentencing, Special Public Prosecutor for the 1993 Mumbai blasts case, Ujjwal Nikam said that 54 people lost their lives in the twin blasts.

He revealed that the three covicts have been sentenced under Indian penal Code Sections 302 and 307, and Explosives Substance Act.

"The conspiracy was hatched in Dubai and some Pakistani nationals were also involved. The bomb that was planted in Ghatkopar was of less intensity. That is why they planned to carry out blasts in Zaveri Bazaar and Gateway of India. There was also a conspiracy to carry out blasts at Mumba Devi Temple," said Nikam.

Ujjwal Nikam had said that the sentence was a "big blow to Lashakr-e-Toiba with the three accused being convicted". The three had been convicted under POTA section 3(5).

"They planned to put a bomb in a BEST bus on December 2, 2002 but it did not go off. They then put a bomb again in a BEST bus in July 2003 and two people were killed in the explosion. But their commaders allegedly told them to plan high-intensity blasts. That's how Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar blasts happened. It's the first case where a family - husband, wife and their daughter - were involved in the attack," Nikam had said.

A terror module of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit was allegedly involved in planting the powerful bombs in two cabs and triggering them by timers on August 25, 2003.

It was one of the most awaited judgement in a terrorist case after the Special TADA Court completed the March 2, 1993, serial blasts trial in 2007 which led to the conviction of 100 people, including Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, now a Samajwadi Party leader.
THREE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR 2003 TWIN BLASTS IN MUMBAI
 

EnlightenedMonk

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Death for 3 accused in 2003 Mumbai blasts

Death for 3 accused in 2003 Mumbai blasts

Three persons, including a woman, were on Thursday (August 6) sentenced to death by a special court for their involvement in the 2003 blasts at the iconic Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar here which left 54 dead and 244 injured. Mohammed Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimda and Ashrat Ansari were sentenced to death by a special Prevention of Terrorism Act court. This is for the first time that a couple is being convicted by a POTA court for their involvement in carrying out blasts.

The trio was held guilty of planting two bombs that exploded at the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003. They had also planted a bomb on July 28, 2003 in a municipal bus in suburban Ghatkopar which killed two persons.

Syed and Fehmida have been found guilty of planting the bomb at Gateway. Ansari delivered the bomb at Zaveri Bazaar. Special prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has termed it a ‘‘rarest of rare’’ case in which the trio had ‘‘enjoyed their act of killing.’’ Nikam said they had been unhappy with smaller blasts that resulted in low death tolls and hence used RDX for the twin blasts.

The defence, though, has been vehement in its opposition to the death penalty, especially for Fehmida.

She has been termed an ‘‘uneducated Muslim woman’’ who was merely following her ‘‘husband’s diktat’’ and not played an ‘‘active role’’ in the attack. Moreover, it has been argued that Syed and Ansari had been brainwashed by Pakistani nationals in Dubai and had acted ‘‘emotionally’’ in response to the riots in Gujarat.

Nikam called their act cold-blooded and premeditated. He said a lot of planning and preparation had happened in the run-up to the attack and Fehmida was not as passive as was argued.
Death for 3 accused in 2003 Mumbai blasts- TIMESNOW.tv - Latest Breaking News, Big News Stories, News Videos
 

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Page last updated at 09:01 GMT, Thursday, 6 August 2009 10:01 UK
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India to execute 2003 bomb trio

All three convicted bombers are expected to lodge appeals
A court in India has sentenced to death three people for carrying out bombings that killed more than 50 people in Mumbai (Bombay) in 2003.

Haneef Sayyed, his wife Fahmeeda and Ashrat Ansari were convicted last month of murder and conspiracy.

The blasts at the Gateway of India landmark and a jewellery market caused carnage and shocked the nation.

They were said to be in retaliation for the deaths of Muslims during riots in Gujarat state the year before.

Hundreds have been killed in attacks in Mumbai in recent years.

The three convicted bombers were found to have links to a Pakistan-based Islamic militant group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, which investigators believe was involved in the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai.

'Pakistani link'

Judge MR Puranik, sitting at a special anti-terrorism court, ordered that all three people convicted "should be hanged by the neck until dead".


They stood impassive in the dock as the sentences were handed down, an AFP news agency correspondent reports.

Their lawyers have indicated that they will appeal against the death penalty, which is given rarely in India and is often delayed indefinitely or commuted by the president, the agency notes.

A lawyer for Haneef Sayyed argued his client should be sent to prison for life without parole and Fahmeeda Sayyed's counsel also argued against the death penalty, saying she was a poor, uneducated woman pressured into committing the crime by her husband.

Ansari's lawyer, Sushan Kunjuramaran, made no submissions but the convicted bomber told the judge he did not agree with the verdict.

Chief public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the trio's crimes had shown "extreme brutality" and resulted in the "massacre of innocent people".

"It would be a mockery of justice if the death penalty is not imposed," he said before sentencing.

The double car bombing in August 2003 left devastation at the Gateway of India and the Zaveri Bazaar market near the Mumba Devi temple in central Mumbai.



A lawyer for Fahmeeda Sayyed argued she had been used by her husband
About 180 people were injured.

The three defendants, all of them from Mumbai, were charged under India's Prevention Of Terrorism Act, which has since been repealed.

Two others were accused - Mohammed Ansari and Mohammed Hasan. They were discharged after a review by the special court last year.

The three defendants were convicted of plotting the bombings in co-ordination with Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Lashkar is also accused of carrying out other attacks in India in recent years, including the gun and bomb assault on Mumbai last November.

Feared militants

The judge said all three defendants were members of the group, a charge which they denied.

Lashkar (the group's name translates as Soldiers of the Pure) is one of the most feared groups fighting against Indian control in Kashmir.

It was banned by Pakistan in January 2002 amid pressure that followed the 9/11 attacks on the US.

Until then Lashkar was able to operate openly inside Pakistan, raising funds and recruiting members.

Lashkar was accused by India of bomb attacks on Delhi in October 2005 that killed more than 60 people, and a December 2001 raid on India's parliament.

Indian investigators have also linked the group to the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai in which gunmen killed 166 people in a three-day rampage.

The man believed to be the only surviving gunman, Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, pleaded guilty to a role in the attack at his trial in India last month.

He, too, could face the death penalty if his confession is accepted and judges agree to impose the maximum penalty.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | India to execute 2003 bomb trio
 

Flint

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Finally! Good to see a verdict given in a terrorism case. A rare occasion indeed.
 

natarajan

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they wont be hanged soon as many number of terrorist who have been given death sentence are happily living in jail(eg afzal guru) and in future kasab will be added so no one will be hanged but they will give lots of headache and waste of indian tax payers money
 

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Wonder why Dawood is not tried in his absence and convicted. It would make it even more difficult for Pakistan to shield a convicted terrorist.
 

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they wont be hanged soon as many number of terrorist who have been given death sentence are happily living in jail(eg afzal guru) and in future kasab will be added so no one will be hanged but they will give lots of headache and waste of indian tax payers money
The prison life is not as happy as you would like to believe, its the worst kind of life. Let them repent for their sins in the jail, then they should be hanged.
 

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Good verdict... these terrorists should be executed immediately.
But then here comes our good ol' Indian judiciary. Somehow I get a feeling that they will die a natural death languishing in the jails for years rather than being hanged as the law takes its course.

It happens only in India!!!
 

natarajan

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some terrorists in coimbatore blast were taken care in jail(like giving briyani,special care etc)
 

StarScreen

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^^^ "Atithi Devo Bhavah"... its the world famous Indian hospitality... our government thinks that the terrorists should not be singled out... we have billions of tax payers filling the government coffers so that these low lives can be fed and treated like kings!
 

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Wonder why Dawood is not tried in his absence and convicted. It would make it even more difficult for Pakistan to shield a convicted terrorist.
You can't convict someone without giving him the chance to defend himself.
 

Yusuf

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No there can be a trial in absentia. He will have a lawyer appointed to take his case. I think it's possible.
 

Flint

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No there can be a trial in absentia. He will have a lawyer appointed to take his case. I think it's possible.
Without his consent? I don't think so. If it were possible, it would have been done already.
 

Yusuf

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We don't need the consent of a terrorist to try him. We try him. Good if he shows up to defend himself. If not go ahead without him.
 

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We don't need the consent of a terrorist to try him. We try him. Good if he shows up to defend himself. If not go ahead without him.
What would have been achieved by convicting a person whose whereabouts are not known and cannot be punished. Its just waste of time and resources.
 

Yusuf

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What would have been achieved by convicting a person whose whereabouts are not known and cannot be punished. Its just waste of time and resources.
He becomes convicted person. If Dawood is convicted, India can ask Pskistan to handover a convicted terrorist. Do far he is called just a most wanted person. After that if Pakistan does not hand him over, India can take that in the international forum as Pakistan shielding convicted terrorists. Remember Dawood is an Indian citizen. Pakistan cannot give any excuse for not handing him over.
 

F-14

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He has naturalized as a pakistani citizen same is the cases for all terroist and gangsters of Indian Orgin living in pakistan
 

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