1993 Mumbai blasts: TADA court adjourns sentencing till Friday after Dossa's death

Mumbai: Expressing shock over the death of the 1993 Mumbai serial blast convict Mustafa Dossa, a special TADA court in Mumbai on Wednesday adjourned till Friday the arguments for deciding the quantum of sentence.

Dossa died of cardiac arrest at the JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday, at 2.30 pm, hours after he was rushed there due to chest pain.

When the court assembled after the recess at 3 pm, special public prosecutor Deepak Salvi told the court that Dossa was no more.

Expressing shock over the demise, Judge G A Sanap of the special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court said, "Its unfortunate and shocking."

Salvi told the court that he was not in a position to argue the case on Wednesday and sought adjournment till Friday.

"Yesterday, on the occasion of Eid, he had wished everybody, including me," Salvi told the court.

Meanwhile, the court also allowed an application moved by Dossa's brother Haroon seeking custody of his body to perform his last rites.

Dossa's advocate Sultan Khan moved the application and the CBI gave its no-objection.

The CBI had argued on Tuesday that Dossa's crime was "more severe" than that of hanged convict Yakub Memon and had sought capital punishment for him.