POTA court convicts 10, acquits 3 in 2002-2003 Mumbai blasts

Mumbai: A special Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) court on Tuesday pronounced 10 accused guilty in the triple bomb blasts case that shook Mumbai between December 2002 and March 2003.

The court of Special Judge P R Deshmukh also acquitted three accused in the bomb blasts case.

The 10 accused have been convicted under various sections of POTA, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act and Railways Act.

The three persons acquitted by the POTA court include Nadeem Paloba, Harun Lohar and Adnan Mulla.

The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence tomorrow.

Three bomb blasts had taken place in three different parts of Mumbai within a period of four months.

A McDonald’s restaurant at the Mumbai Central railway station was hit on December 6, 2002, while the second blast took place on January 27, 2003, in a crowded market in Vile Parle East.

The third blast shook a crowded local train at the Mulund railway station on March 13, 2003.

A total of 12 people were killed in the three blasts while 27 others were seriously injured.