Jamnagar, May 4 (PTI) A TADA court on Monday convicted 12 persons in a case related to the conspiracy of 1993 arms landing off the Gujarat coast linked to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim to help avenge the Babri Masjid demolition, and sentenced 10 of them to 5-year rigorous imprisonment.
The special court at Jamnagar also acquitted 17 other accused in the case, whose verdict came after nearly 33 years.
Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act court Judge RP Mogera convicted 12 accused, and sentenced 10 of them to five-year rigorous imprisonment, and two to seven-year RI, Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Tushar Gokani said.
The case pertains to a conspiracy hatched by Ibrahim, later designated as an international terrorist, and his associates based in Dubai and Pakistan to avenge the December 6, 1992, demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya by smuggling a cache of weapons and explosives, including RDX, into India by sea, and creating mayhem and communal discord.
An FIR was registered at the Jamnagar B-division police station in July 1993, and the verdict comes after an investigation that spanned decades with the probe carried out by now retired IPS officers P K Jha, Satish Verma, and current CBI Special Director Manoj Shashidhar, Gokani said.
The accused, including Ibrahim, were booked under various sections of the TADA, the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act, and the Explosives Substances Act. The investigation went on from 1993 till 2018, with a total 46 accused arrested and 15 others, including Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Anees Ibrahim declared as absconders.
The trial began in 2018, and seven chargesheets were filed against the 46 accused.
While 11 accused died during the trial and six were discharged (a pre-trial process) by the Supreme Court in different rulings, 12 out of the remaining 29 were convicted and 17 others acquitted by the TADA court, Gokani said.
The prosecution succeeded in proving all the facts regarding how the conspiracy was hatched at Ibrahim’s residence in Dubai and how it was executed with the help of Pakistan, the SPP said.
During the trial, it also came to light that officers of Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) as well as those of the military of the neighbouring country were involved in the conspiracy to smuggle the weapons into India, he said.
To smuggle the arms consignment into India by sea, residents from Bedi village in Jamnagar and Salaya-Mandvi in Kutch were recruited by the conspirators. A boat named ‘Sada Al Bahar’ was taken to a sea point near Karachi, where it received weapons from a vessel linked to PMSA, including explosives, RDX, hand grenades, bombs and rifles, Gokani said.
The boat stayed in mid sea for around 48 hours when two more launches, ‘Bismillah’ and ‘Maarvan’ approached. Half of the weapons on the boat were transferred to ‘Bismillah,’ which then went towards Maharashtra, while ‘Sada Al bahar’ sailed towards the Porbandar coast in Gujarat, according to the prosecution.
After getting clearance through satellite phone, the Gujarat-bound boat landed at Gosabara village where the weapons and explosives were unloaded, put in trucks and dispatched towards Surat, Valsad in Gujarat and other destinations in Uttar Pradesh, stated Gokani.
‘Sada Al bahar’ later left for Dubai. Residents from Jamnagar and Kutch (Mandvi) linked to the arms smuggling were directed to hide by their handlers. However, the entire conspiracy unravelled following their arrest, he informed.
During the probe that lasted for 25 years, police recovered several hand grenades, AK-series rifles, their cartridges, among other items, from different accused persons. A total 63 witnesses were examined during the trial, said Gokani. PTI KA PD RSY
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