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Salem aide guilty
Guilty of carrying weapons from Sanjay Dutt's house.
BY A CORRESPONDENT
November 27, 2006
One of gangster Abu Salem’s aides has been held guilty of carrying weapons from actor Sanjay Dutt’s house to the residence of a co-accused, a TADA court has ruled. The court has summoned Sanjay Dutt and three other accused for the verdict on Tuesday.
The court hearing the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts conspiracy trial meanwhile, acquitted another person who had been charged with possessing a 9 mm pistol given by the actor to his friends for disposal.
The court also held two customs officers, R K Singh and Mohammed Sultan Sayed, guilty of helping prime conspirator Tiger Memon in smuggling arms and RDX used to engineer serial blasts in the city.
One of the accused, Mansoor Ahmed Sayed Ahmed, was found guilty under Section 3(3) of the TADA (P) Act for carrying weapons from the bungalow of Sanjay Dutt in suburban Bandra on the instructions of gangster Abu Salem to the house of co-accused Zebunisa Kazi. The court accepted Mansoor's confession saying he had carried the weapons on the instructions of Salem.
However, he was absolved of the charges of conspiracy under Section 120-b of IPC, Section 5 of the TADA (P) Act (possessing arms in notified area), Section 6 of the TADA (P) (enhanced punishment for violating other acts) and Section 3 read with Section 25 (1-a) (1-b) (a) of the Arms Act.
It may be recalled that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had said that Mansoor had gone to Sanjay's residence in his car to transport the weapons. The car was seized by the police. The vehicle is kept on the TADA court premises . Meanwhile, the benefit of doubt proved saviour to Ajay Marwah, with the court acquitted him saying he had not personally taken delivery of 9 mm pistol given by Sanjay's friend to his brother.
Marwah had confessed that the pistol was not destroyed and was allegedly given by Adajenia to Rusi Mulla who in turn kept it with Marwah.
Judge P D Kode held former customs superintendent of Alibag division Mohammed Sultan Sayed guilty of helping Tiger Memon in landing operations of arms and RDX at Shekhadi coast which were later used in the 1993 serial blasts.
The court accepted evidence which indicated that Sayed had accepted bribe of Rs 7.80 lakh to help Tiger in smuggling arms. He was held guilty under Section 3(3) of the TADA (P) Act for aiding and abetting terrorist acts.
The court also found that another customs official, R K Singh, was also found guilty of similar charges. He had attended the conspiracy meeting where he agreed to help Tiger in smuggling contraband in lieu of bribe. He too was convicted under Section 3(3) of the TADA (P) Act.
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