Ibrahim Musa Chauhan was convicted in the ‘93 blasts case for supplying an AK56 rifle, ammunition and hand grenades to actor Sanjay Dutt, was sentenced to ten years rigorous imprisonment by the Tada Court on Wednesday. Judge PD Kode also handed out the tenth life sentence in the case to Sardar Shahwali Khan and sentenced Mulchand Shah, a hawala dealer, to five years in jail and fined him Rs5 lakh, the highest fine amount so far.
Beginning with Chauhan, Judge Kode said he “danced to the tune of (gangster Abu) Salem,” who was entrusted with the job of supplying arms to Dutt and others by fugitive Dawood Ibrahim’s younger brother Anees. Chauhan, who owns a driving school, was introduced to Anees and Salem in Dubai by his brother-in-law. He accompanied Salem to Dutt’s house to drop off the weapons.
After his arrest, the police recovered an AK-56 rifle, ammunition and 25 hand grenades from Andheri on the basis of his statement. Chauhan was slapped with a Rs2.77 lakh fine. Khan, a civil contractor, was held guilty for being part of the blasts conspiracy, undergoing weapon training at Sandheri in Raigad district, attending conspiratorial meetings and conducting a reconnaissance of the BMC headquarters, a proposed target.
Unlike a majority of the other accused, Khan did not make a confessional statement. Pronouncing his life sentence, Judge Kode said the confessions of the approver and other co-accused provided ample evidence against Khan. Though he did not commit a terrorist act, he was part of the conspiracy till the very last day when the vehicle-bombs were prepared, the judge noted.
Mulchand Shah, who had allowed prime conspirator Tiger Memon to operate his hawala account (illegal money laundering channel) in the code name ‘Hathi’, was sentenced to five years in jail and slapped a staggering fine of Rs 5lakh. Noting that Rs1.09 crore were deposited in his account by Tiger and later distributed, Judge Kode said, “One cannot assume the function of operating a bank for such an act.” Chauhan had confessed to operating as a banker for Tiger even prior to the conspiracy.
So far, 71 of the 100 convicts have been handed their sentences.
Sardar Shahwali Khan
Role: Part of blasts conspiracy; underwent weapons training
Punishment: Life imprisonment, Rs1 lakh fine
Time spent in jail: Over 5 years
Ibrahim Mussa Chauhan
Role: Supplied weapons to Sanjay Dutt
Punishment: 10 years RI,
Rs2.77 lakh fine
Time spent in jai: Over 6 years
Mulchand Shah
Role: Allowed Tiger Memon to use Hawala account
Punishment: 5 years RI, Rs 5 lakh fine
Time spent in jail: Over 4 years
