Shaikh breaks down, faints in court

MUMBAI: Niyaz Ahmed Shaikh, convicted in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case, on Thursday fainted in the TADA court while giving his statement on quantum of sentence.

Designated Judge PD Kode summoned a doctor to examine him. He was later taken back to the jail.

Earlier in his statement before the court, he said in the 1992 communal riots in the city his house was badly damaged and he was forced to escape with his seven-year-old sister.

Niyaz told the court that at that point of time he had two options before him - either to go to Pakistan or to go to a "kabristan" (graveyard). He decided to choose the former.

He pleaded for leniency, saying he had already been in custody for thirteen-and-a-half years and broke down before fainting.

The court had on October 3 held Niyaz guilty of conspiracy in the 1993 bomb blasts case. He was also found guilty of obtaining training in Pakistan and attending conspiracy meeting at the residence of co-accused.

Besides, he was held guilty of surveying Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai building, a potential target for the blasts, along with prime accused Tiger Memon.