Mustafa Dossa, ‘Brains’ Behind Mumbai Serial Blasts, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest:- The master mind behind the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case convict Mustafa Dossa died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday in Mumbai.

After he complained of chest pain on Tuesday night, he was admitted to JJ hospital in Mumbai for hypertension and diabetes. JJ Hospital Dean, TP Lahane said “He passed away due to a cardiac arrest on Wednesday at 2:30 pm.”

Ironically, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had sought capital punishment for Dossa, arguing that his role in the blasts was “more severe” than that of hanged convict Yakub Memon. The agency had also sought instrument of execution for another convict Feroz Abdul Rashid Khan. The CBI said Dossa was one of the “brains” behind the conspiracy and that his degree of responsibility towards the commission of the crime was the highest.

The court, in the second installment of the trial in the blasts case, had on June 16 convicted five accused, including Dossa and extradited gangster Abu Salem, under the charges of murder, conspiracy and sections of now repealed TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act), while the sixth accused Riyaz Siddiqui was convicted only under TADA Act. As they were arrested at the time of conclusion of the main trial, the trial of the seven accused - Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Abdul Quayyum - was separated from the main case. The court acquitted another accused Abdul Quayyum of all the charges.

The co-ordinated blasts that ripped through the city on March 12, 1993 took the lives of as many as 257 people. It was the first-ever terrorist attack globally where RDX was used on large scale seriously injuring 713 and destroying properties worth Rs 27 crore.

SUPRAJA