Mumbai bomb blast convict dies in hospital

Mumbai: Tahir Merchant alias Tahir Taklya - who was sentenced to death in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts – died early on Wednesday at Sassoon Hospital, Pune, where he had been under treatment for chest pain.

According to police sources, Merchant complained of chest pain at around 3am following which, he was shifted from Yerwada jail to Sassoon Hospital where he died during medical treatment at around 3.45am. Merchant’s body was handed over to his family late in the evening.

The additional director general of the prisons department Dr Bhushankumar Upadhyay confirmed the news of Merchant’s death.

Merchant was being kept at Yerwada jail after a special TADA court convicted him in the blasts’ case last year. He was deported from Abu Dhabi in 2010 and was among the seven accused facing trial in the second leg of the trial. While the TADA court convicted six of the seven accused and sentenced gangster Abu Salem to life imprisonment, another prime accused Mustafa Dossa passed away before pronouncement of the quantum of punishment.

The prosecution case against Merchant was that he made transport arrangements for the co-accused who were trained in Pakistan. The prosecution said that he, along with Karimullah Khan, arranged for their passports.

Merchant attended conspiracy meetings in Dubai and motivated his associates to arrange men from Mumbai to be sent to Pakistan for arms’ training. He collected funds to procure arms and planned to set up an illegal arms’ manufacturing factory in India.