93 Bomb Blast Case: Yakub Memon Death Sentence Appeal Supreme Court Judgement: Part 023

Deposition of Nandkumar Anant Chaugule (PW-444).

The deposition of PW-444 was recorded on 05/06.10.1998. At the time of the incident, he was the Incharge, Senior Inspector of Police, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad of CID Intelligence, Bombay. He deposed that:

(i) On 15.03.1993, he received information through his operator that a scooter has been found lying in suspicious condition opposite to D.P. Jewellers, Zaveri Bazaar. He went to Zaveri Bazaar and inspected the scooter. The dicky of the scooter was opened by SI Pandre with the help of hook and rope.

(ii) The dicky of the said scooter contained a black substance with timer device inserted in the same. The remaining part of the dickey contained three or more polythene bags of brownish color material.

(iii) Thereafter, the timer was pulled out by SI Pandre by means of a small fishing hook tied with a rope. He further deposed that he separated the detonator from the timer pencil and made the same ineffective and handed over the same to the Police Officers at LT Marg Police Station.

(iv) The other officers from the BDDS removed the black and brown material from the front dickey of the scooter and gave the same to the police officers of LT Marg police station.

(v) From the physical appearance of the said black material, he gathered that the same was RDX and from the physical appearance of brown material, he gathered that the same was nitroglycerin, both being high explosive substances.

Deposition of Dhananjay Raghunath Daund (PW-532)

The deposition of PW-532 was recorded on 02.12.1999. At the relevant time, he was a PSI attached with the Worli Police Station. He deposed that:

(i) He arrested the appellant (A-44) on 18.05.1993 and handed him over to PI Shri Ghavandi (PW-552), I.O. in C.R. No. 155/1993.

(ii) In the presence of Ramesh Pandurang Bhasare (PW-74), two keys of a Bajaj Scooter entangled in a ring were recovered vide disclosure and seizure Panchnama (Exh. No. 389) at the instance of the appellant who led the police party to Kwality Footwear shop, Khambekar Street.

(iii) He handed over the said keys to PI Ghavande (PW-552).

The owner of the scooter was traced through examination of the following witnesses:

Deposition of Sreeram Jeetram Vasan (PW-81)

298) PW-81 was the sub-Dealer of scooters carrying on business in the name of Mohan Automobiles. He deposed that:

(i) He used to purchase scooters from Vasan Automobiles and sell the same to customers.

(ii) He knows a person by the name Sayed Farid Sayed Abdul Wahab @ Farid Bhai (PW-298) who is also a sub-dealer for Bajaj Auto Ltd. and is carrying on business under the name Nisha Sales and Services.

(iii) In the month of February and March, 1993, he sold 22 Bajaj Chetak Scooters and 2 Kinetic Honda Scooters to PW-298 out of the lot of 40 scooters purchased by him from Vasan Automobiles.

(iv) On 18.03.1993, when he went to the office of the Crime Branch, he identified the three scooters, which were sold by him to Nisha Sales and Services on 14.02.1993, 04.03.1993 and 11.03.1993 and he further produced the notes Exh. Nos. 424, 424-A and 424-B respectively of the said scooters to Inspector Homi Irani.

Deposition of Sayeed Abdul Sattar (PW-82)

PW-82 was working with Munaf Halari (AA). He had helped him in getting loan through his friend Rahid Shaikh. He deposed that:

(i) On 10.03.1993, Munaf (AA) contacted him for purchase of 2/3 Bajaj Scooters stating that he required the same for his foreign delegation.

(ii) On the same day, around 6 p.m., they took delivery of 2 scooters of blue and stone colour bearing registration Nos. MH-04-Z-261 and MH-05- TC-29, respectively, from Asgar Ali Tahir Ali Masalawala, Scooter Dealer, (PW 299).

(iii) Next day, i.e, on 11.03.1993, Munaf (AA) took delivery of the third scooter bearing Registration No. MH-05-TC 16 and asked PW-82 to arrange for documents for the registration of the said scooters and got two Xerox copies of Ration Card from Abdul Aziz, an RTO agent. Munaf (AA) collected the documents from him on 12.03.1993.

(iv) When he asked Munaf (AA) to repay the loan, Munaf told him to forget about it since the scooters have been purchased by Tiger Memon and that Tiger Memon has used the same for the bomb blast.

(v) Munaf Halari also cautioned him not to disclose this to anyone, else Tiger Memon will shoot him and his family members.

(vi) He identified the scooters in Court through their registration numbers.

Deposition of Govind Bechan Baria (PW-452)

At the relevant time, PW-452 was working with Excellent Petroleum Company situated at J.J. Junction. He deposed that:

(i) Munaf Halari (AA) had requirement of 3 scooters and he had approached him on 10.03.1993 for the same.

(ii) He suggested to him that he should go to the Scooter Dealer, Asgar Ali Tahir Ali Masalawala (PW 299).

(iii) PW-299 referred Munaf (AA) to Sayed Farid Abdul Wahab @ Farid Bhai (PW 298), Scooter Dealer who was working under the name of Nisha Sales and Services.

Deposition of Ajit Vithalrao Vanjari (PW-651)

PW-651, at the relevant time, was working as a Sales Manager with M/s Vasan Automobiles. He deposed that he had sold 25 Bajaj Chetak Scooters to Mohan Automobiles.

Deposition of Sambhali S. Hargude (PW-325)

PW-325 was the Sub-inspector on station house duty on 15.03.1993. He deposed that:

(i) He received information about the scooter bearing Registration No. MH-05-TC-16 parked at Zaveri Bazaar through Police Havaldar Shri Kumbhar posted at the Shaikh Memon Street chowki.

(ii) In the dickey of the said scooter, the iron pieces mixed with a black coloured substance were found.

(iii) The dickey was also containing a timer pencil inserted at the centre of the said black substance.

(iv) The bomb squad defused the said bomb by dismantling the timer pencil.

Deposition of Vijay Ramji Wala (PW-454)

PW-454 was a Service Provider at M/s Vasan Automobiles, Kalyan. He deposed that on being asked to inspect the scooter with the help of the keys given to him at the LT Marg Police Station, he discovered that the said keys belonged to the said scooter. He was not sure about the registration number of the scooter. He, however, said that it was either MH-05-TC-15 or MH-05-TD-16. He then deposed that it was MH-05-TC-16. It is relevant to point out that the keys which were recovered at the instance of the appellant (A-44) belonged to the same scooter which was planted by the appellant at Zaveri Bazaar and was laden with highly explosive substances.

299) From the evidence discussed above, it is established that:

(i) The appellant (A-44) actively participated in the conspiracy;

(ii) He was an old associate of Tiger Memon;

(iii) He agreed with the object of conspiracy in the meeting held at Hotel Taj Mahal and performed several overt acts pursuant to the said agreement;

(iv) He associated himself with Tiger Memon (AA) and on his instructions with Anwar (AA).

(v) He was seen taking instructions and being in association with Anwar (AA) by several co-conspirators.

(vi) In his presence, detonators were fitted in the suitcases filled with RDX.

(vii) He planted one such suitcase laden with RDX in Room No. 3078 of Hotel Centaur, Juhu which exploded injuring 3 persons and causing damage to the property to the tune of Rs.2.10 crores;

(viii) He parked a scooter laden with RDX in front of the shop of DP Jewellers, Zaveri Bazaar;

(ix) He threw the keys of the room on the roof of a Footwear shop where he hid the clothes he was wearing at the time of commission of offence and also the keys of the scooter which he had parked at Zaveri Bazaar to avoid detection by police; and

(x) He went to his friend Md. Farooq Mohammed Yusuf Pawale (A-16) and told him everything who, in turn, supported him by saying that ‘Allah’ would help him as he has done this for his community.

300) It is contended on behalf of the appellant (A-44) that no TIP was conducted in reality. It is pointed out by the prosecution that in the instant case, after the arrest of the appellant, identification parade was conducted on 04.06.1993 by Sharad S. Vichare, Special Executive Magistrate (PW-459) wherein PWs-27 and 26 identified the appellant as the person who had parked the scooter filled with RDX at Zaveri Bazaar. It is further submitted that on 07.06.1993, TIP was conducted by Vaman D. Sapre, Special Executive Magistrate (PW-249) wherein PWs-17 and 18 identified the appellant as the person who had visited the Hotel Centaur, Juhu and planted the suitcase in Room No. 3078 of the Hotel. It is further submitted that the said parade was duly conducted in the presence of panch witnesses and memorandum panchnamas were also prepared for the same.

301) It is further contended on behalf of the appellant (A-44) that Nandkumar Anant Chaugule (PW-444), an officer of BDDS, forcibly opened the lock of the dickey so the question of opening the dickey with the keys recovered by PW-454 from the roof of the footwear shop does not arise.

302) Further, the prosecution submitted that the appellant (A-44), after his arrest on 18.05.1993, made a disclosure statement on 19.05.1993 and led the police party to Kwality Footwear shop at Khambekar street, and thereafter, he took the keys from its roof and further led the police party to Room No. 12 of the building opposite the shop. It is further stated that the appellant then opened the lock of the room with the same keys and went inside the room and two keys of Bajaj Scooter and other articles were recovered from a cupboard. Thereafter, the said keys were handed over to the IO who gave the same to PW-547. In order to complete the link, PW-547 called Vijay Ramji Wala (PW-454) who is a Supervisor at M/s Vasan Automobiles to check whether the keys were of the same scooter which was parked by the appellant at Zaveri Bazaar. Thereafter, PW-454 inserted the keys in all the three locks of the scooter and the same tallied with the locks. Thus it was proved that the keys recovered at the instance of the appellant belonged to the scooter laden with RDX recovered from Zaveri Bazaar.

303) It is also contended on behalf of the appellant (A-44) that the handwriting in which the booking was made in the hotel was not confirmed during investigation. We are unable to accept the contention raised since on perusal of the entire evidence as produced by the prosecution, it is established that the appellant planted the suitcase laden with RDX in Room No. 3078 of Hotel Centaur, Juhu. We are satisfied that sufficient evidence has been brought on record by the prosecution to show that the said room was booked by the conspirators in a fake name for which payment was also deposited in advance.

304) It is further contended by the appellant that PW-2 (Approver) has not named the appellant in his deposition. The prosecution pointed out that this does not have any bearing on the prosecution case.

305) We are satisfied that the prosecution has produced sufficient evidence against the appellant (A-44) to bring home the charges framed against him.

Criminal Appeal Nos. 637-638 of 2008 Asgar Yusuf Mukadam (A-10) and Shahnawaz Abdul Kadar Qureshi (A-29) ……..Appellant(s) versus The State of Maharashtra Thr. CBI-STF, Bombay ……..Respondent(s)

306) Ms. Farhana Shah, learned counsel appeared for the appellants (A-10 and A-29) and Mr. Gopal Subramanium, learned senior counsel, duly assisted by Mr. Mukul Gupta, learned senior counsel and Mr. Satyakam, learned counsel for the respondent.

307) The above-said appeals are directed against the final judgment and order of conviction and sentence dated 18.09.2006 and 19.07.2007 respectively, whereby the appellants (A-10 and A-29) have been sentenced to death by the Designated Court under TADA for the Bombay Bomb Blast Case, Greater Bombay in B.B.C. No. 1/1993.

FOR FULL JUDGEMENT, PLEASE CHECK THE LINKS BELOW:

93 Bomb Blast Case: Yakub Memon Death Sentence Appeal Supreme Court Judgement:

Part 001 / Part 002 / Part 003 / Part 004 / Part 005 / Part 006 / Part 007 / Part 008 / Part 009 / Part 010 / Part 011 / Part 012 / Part 013 / Part 014 / Part 015 / Part 016 / Part 017 / Part 018 / Part 019 / Part 020 / Part 021 / Part 022 / Part 023 / Part 024 / Part 025 / Part 026 / Part 027 / Part 028 / Part 029 / Part 030 / Part 031 / Part 032 / Part 033 / Part 034 / Part 035 / Part 036 / Part 037 / Part 038 / Part 039 / Part 040 / Part 041 / Part 042 / Part 043 / Part 044 / Part 045

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TAGS:

Supreme Court Of India, Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, Death Sentence, Confirmed, Sentence, Appeal, Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Momon, 93 Bomb Blast, Mumbai Bomb Blast, Don, Gangster, Mafia, Sanjay Dutt, Death Penalty, Serial Blast, Mumbai, maharashtra, India, State Of Maharashtra, CBI, Prosecution, Babri Masjid, Ayodhya, demolition, violence, terrorist, Bombay, arms, ammunitions, conspiracy, Dubai, Pakistan, training, Bombay Stock Exchange, Katha Bazaar, Sena Bhavan, Century Bazaar, Mahim Causeway, Air India Building, Zaveri Bazaar, Hotel Sea Rock, Plaza Theatre, Juhu Centaur Hotel, AirPort Bay-54, AirPort Centaur Hotel, terrorist attack, terror, RDX, Research Department Explosive, Md. Ahmed Dosa, Md. Salim Mira Moiddin Shaikh @ Salim Kutta, Md. Kasam Lajpuria, Ranjitkumar Singh Baleshwar Prasad, Md. Sultan Sayyed, Dighi Jetty, Raigad, Uttam,

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