Court asks Mumbai Police to consider prosecuting cops for allowing woman to accompany Mustafa Dossa

Mumbai: A special TADA court on Tuesday directed the Mumbai police to consider prosecuting the police officials, who allowed a woman to be with 1993 blasts convict Mustafa Dossa when he was being taken to Gujarat last year.

Dossa died of cardiac arrest at the JJ Hospital in Mumbai on 28 June this year, days after he was convicted for his role in the Mumbai serial blasts case.

“In addition to the departmental enquiry, the joint commissioner of police (Law and order) shall independently consider prosecuting them,” special TADA court judge GA Sanap said.

The court had ordered an inquiry after a tabloid reported that the police had allowed a woman to travel with Dossa to Porbandar. The erring policemen were indicted in the departmental inquiry.

CBI counsel Deepak Salvi had argued that the conduct of the police officials attracted penal provisions under the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act. He had said the woman concerned should also be prosecuted under the relevant sections of the IPC.

Observing that Dossa could have even gone absconding, the court said in such cases, the escort party should be extra cautious, but in this case, they were extra lenient.

Meanwhile, Salvi on Tuesday submitted the final list of the deceased and injured in the 1993 blasts in the court.

The court asked the registrar to forward the list to the office of the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) and directed the DLSA to process and decide on the compensation claims as early as possible.

The court also directed the CBI to help the DLSA in deciding the claims and report to the court every month.

Judge Sanap had pronounced the sentence in the case on 7 September.

A special TADA court had, in June, convicted six persons, including mastermind Mustafa Dossa and Abu Salem, in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, 24 years after the attacks left 257 people dead in the country’s financial capital.

It, however, let off accused Abdul Quayyum, for want of evidence against him. This was the second leg of the trial.

All the seven accused were facing multiple charges, including criminal conspiracy, waging war against the Government of India and murder.

The court, on June 16, had convicted six accused in the case. The trial of Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Abdul Quayyum was separated from the main case as they were arrested subsequently.