Mumbai, July 27 (Inditop.com) A special court here Monday held three people guilty for the 2003 Mumbai terror twin blasts that left 54 killed and 244 others injured. The following is the timeline of the 2003 twin blasts case:
Dec 2, 2002 – Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) activists place bomb in a BEST public bus at Santacruz East Export Promotion Zone (SEEPZ), a commercial hub in Andheri East; the bomb proves a dud.
July 28, 2002 – The same LeT group puts a bomb in a BEST bus in Ghatkopar, an eastern Mumbai suburb dominated by Gujaratis. It killed two and injured 31.
Aug 25, 2003 – Twin blasts in Mumbai, at Gateway of India and another in Zaveri Bazar, a gold jewellery hub in south Mumbai, where mainly Gujaratis operate. Killed 54, injured 244.
Sep 2003 – Nazir, believed to be the twin blasts mastermind, killed in police shootout at Matunga, central Mumbai.
Oct 1, 2003 – Three prime accused – Mohammed Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimida, daughter Farheen – and their associate Ashrat Shafique Ansari nabbed.
Oct 2, 2003 – Two accomplices held, Rizwan M.A. Laddoowala and Mohammed Hassan Batterywala, both electricians.
June 2, 2004 – Another accused, Zahid Yusuf Patni, nabbed in October 2003 turned approver in the case. Revealed how the entire conspiracy was hatched in Dubai with him as the chief of a LeT terror module in Mumbai called the Gujarat Revenge Force.
November 2008 – Laddoowala and Batterywala ordered by the Supreme Court to be discharged from the trial in Mumbai special court of Prevention Of Terrorist Act (POTA), for lack of evidence. Earlier, even Farheen, being a minor, had been discharged from the case before filing the charge sheet in end-2003.
July 27, 2009 – The six-year long trial finally ends in POTA court. Special Judge M.R. Puranik pronounces the Sayed couple and their associate Ashrat guilty.
Aug 4, 2009 – Sentence on verdict will be announced.
TOTAL: eight accused, one dead, three discharged, one turned approver, three found guilty. Witnesses examined during trial: 101.
