Iqbal, who was sentenced to death by the special Tada court for his involvement in the 1993 serial blasts, died in Sassoon Hospital, after a prolonged battle with TB.
1993 serial blasts convict Iqbal Shaikh dies of TB in Pune hospital
MUMBAI: “My son is finally free today,” said a weeping Mohammed Yusuf, 66, father of Iqbal Shaikh. Iqbal, who was sentenced to death by the special Tada court for his involvement in the 1993 serial blasts, died in Sassoon Hospital, Pune, on Tuesday after a prolonged battle with tuberculosis.
Yusuf, who stays in a hutment at Mazgaon, said that the TADA court had given lesser sentences to some convicts who were physically not fit. “My son had been suffering from TB for more than a year, and yet the court gave him death sentence,” he rued.
Iqbal’s lawyer said that his client had been surviving only on tea and biscuits for more than a year. “Iqbal died of advanced TB. He had stopped talking to people,” said advocate Subhash Kanse. Iqbal, who was in his late 30s, was also suffering from mental derangement, he added.
A few months ago, an application was made to the court, seeking permission to shift Iqbal from the Pune hospital to JJ Hospital. However, it was decided that as his treatment had already begun in Pune, there was no need to bring him to city. Yusuf said that his son had shrunk from 50 kg to a pitiable bag of bones, weighing a mere 35 kg.
According to Yusuf, Iqbal lost his mental stability after the death of his mother. She had died of heart attack in 2001, waiting to meet her son outside Arthur Road jail. Such was his condition during trial that he did not even realise that he had been sentenced to death.
Iqbal was known as ‘Pilot’ for his ability to ride motorbike at high speeds. Tiger Memon had ordered him to drive an RDX-laden scooter to Sahar airport, with another convict Naseem Barmare riding pillion. Barmare threw grenades at the airport. Shaikh also parked an RDX-laden scooter at Naigaum crossroad, but it didn’t explode.
The Tada court pronounced Iqbal guilty of all these offences and sentenced him to death. A total of 100 accused were convicted for the blasts that ripped through the city on March 12, 1993, claiming 257 lives.
Incidentally, Iqbal is the second convict of the serial blasts case to die in jail after being sentenced. Earlier, in June, gangster Ijaz Pathan died after a long illness in a Mumbai hospital.
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