Zeenews Bureau
Mumbai: The sentencing of three main convicts in the 2003 Mumbai twin blasts case was deferred on Tuesday as the special POTA court here decided to pronounce the quantum of punishment on August 6.
Confirming the development, special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside the court, “The special court has reserved till Thursday the sentencing of the husband-wife team and their aide convicted for the August 2003 twin bombings in Mumbai.”
Elaborating more on the court proceedings, Nikam said, “During the arguments, we pleaded the court that all three convicts deserve capital punishment since they committed a heinous crime killing 54 people and injuring more than 244.”
“We also informed the court about their sinister plans to execute more blasts in the city and their intentions to kill more people had they not been arrested by the authorities soon after the twin blasts,” he added.
Briefing reporters over the court’s proceedings, he said, “Since the three convicts have no regrets for their actions, we have pleaded the court to give them a stringent punishment.”
“Although, the arguments of the defence and the prosecution today focused on the possible sentencing of the female convict (Fehmida Sayed), we have maintained that a life sentence awarded to them will be futile since they all posses a devil’s mind,” he stated.
Making his points clear, Nikam told reporters that the three convicted in the case were carrying forward Lashkar-e-Toiba’s sinister agenda of unleashing more mayhem and destruction in India and hence deserved a stricter punishment.
The special POTA court had earlier convicted Ashrat Shafique Ansari (32), Mohammed Hanif Sayed (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43) for murder and conspiracy under Sections 302, 307, 427 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, besides finding them guilty under Section 3 of POTA.
On August 25, 2003 two blasts had rocked the Gateway of India and the busy Zaveri Bazaar in South Mumbai. The blasts were carried out by a terror module of the LeT.
