Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], June 22 : With the prosecution commencing the arguments on the sentence to be awarded to the convicts in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, special public prosecutor Deepak Salvi on Thursday said that out of the six, five people will be getting maximum punishment of death.
"Maximum punishment is death, which has been appealed to the court for these convicts. Maximum punishment, as per 120 (B) of Section 302 and 120 (B) Section 321 of TADA, is death. Under law, five people will be getting maximum punishment of death," Salvi told media here. He added that under the extradition law, death punishment is converted to life imprisonment for Abu Salem.
"But I will see as to whether I can ask for death punishment. I have not made any arguments for any culprit yet," he added. The Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court which had convicted extradited gangster, Abu Salem and others in the case began hearing on the quantum of sentence on Monday.
The prosecution while detailing the gravity of the crime said that 273 people had lost their lives while 713 were injured.
Last week the court had convicted extradited gangster, Abu Salem for conspiracy in the Mumbai 1993 blasts case.
The court has also held Mustaffa Dossa and three others guilty of conspiracy charges in the blasts case.
The court, however, acquitted Abdul Qayyum of all charges. The court held Salem guilty of conspiracy and terrorism. The court also convicted Firoz Khan, Karimullah Shaikh, Riaz Siddiqui and Tahir Merchant for conspiracy and murder charges.
The blasts left 257 people dead, 713 seriously injured and destroyed properties worth Rs. 27 crore. In the first leg of the trial that concluded in 2007, the TADA court convicted 100 accused, while 23 people were acquitted.
The trial of the seven accused -- Abu Salem, Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Abdul Quayyum -- were separated from the main case as they were arrested at the time of conclusion of the main trial.
Salem was accused of transporting weapons from Gujarat to Mumbai..
Source: ANI