1993 blasts: TADA court holds Niyaz Shaikh guilty, Rukhsana acquitted

Standing in the dock before the TADA court on Tuesday, Niyaz Mohamed, 35, was held guilty for undergoing weapons training in Pakistan, participating in conspiratorial meetings and conducting a reconnaissance of the BMC building with Tiger Memon to select blast targets.

Clad in a trendy T-shirt and black jeans, with long hair pulled back in a ponytail, the former departmental store salesman clearly belied the “terrorist” tag. Judge PD Kode said there is “ample evidence” to prove Mohhamed’s complicity in the conspiracy. He upheld Mohammed’s confession and the statement given by the approver Badshah Khan (name changed). Other co-accused had also been named for being present at a meeting held by Tiger Memon at Taj Mahal hotel.

The court, however, acquitted Rukhsana Mohammad Shafi Zariwala of charges of aiding and abetting terrorist acts as the prosecution failed to prove their case. Rukhsana was accused of accompanying her husband Mohammad Shafi and other co-accused Pervez Shaikh in transporting bags containing 85 hand-grenades, 350 detonators and 3,270 live cartridges from Jogeshwari to Musafirkhana. While Shafi is absconding, Pervez was acquitted of the charge, same as that on Rukhsana, though he was held guilty on other counts.

Rukhsana is the third woman accused in the case to be acquitted, after Hanifa Memon, mother of prime accused Tiger Memon, and his sister-in-law Rahin Memon.