1993 train blasts: CBI to challenge LeT bomb maker Tunda's acquittal in Supreme Court
NEW DELHI: The CBI will challenge before the Supreme Court the acquittal of Abdul Karim Tunda in the 1993 serial train blasts case by a special court in Ajmer, officials said Friday.
The agency stated that it made the decision subsequent to a request from the BJP government in Rajasthan to the Centre, urging the CBI to file an appeal contesting Tunda's acquittal in the case.
The central probe agency said 12 people have been convicted in the case so far, including Irfan and Hamir-Ul-Uddin, who were sentenced to life imprisonment by Judge Mahaveer Prasad Gupta of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court on Thursday. However, the judge acquitted 81-year-old Tunda.
The agency officials said they are studying the judgment and an appeal would soon be filed in the Supreme Court.
The orders of the TADA courts are challenged before the Supreme Court.
A series of explosions had rocked six long-distance trains, including the Rajdhani Express, in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai on the intervening night of December 5–6, 1993.
Two people were killed and 22 injured in the blasts.
The cases were handed over to the CBI, which had registered five separate FIRs in the matter.
"The investigation disclosed that the various accused persons entered into a criminal conspiracy with the object to over-awe the government established by law, spreading terror in public at large and to create disharmony among different communities of the country by committing terrorist acts, like bomb explosions in the running prestigious trains in different parts of the country, on the occasion of the first anniversary of the demolition of a structure at Ayodhya," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement on Friday.
The agency had filed charge sheets against 21 accused, of whom 15 were awarded a life sentence 20 years ago on February 28, 2004 by a TADA court in Ajmer. The Supreme Court had upheld the sentences of 10 of these convicts.
The 81-year-old Tunda, a close aide of wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was one of the accused of carrying out the blasts to mark the first anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition.
He was arrested in 2013 in a hamlet near the India-Nepal border.
On the intervening night of December 5–6, 1993, a series of explosions were caused in the six prestigious trains of the country. Initially, 5 criminal cases were registered in the jurisdiction of local GRP stations.
Subsequently, the Government of India issued notifications dated 21.12.93 and 28.12.93 entrusting the investigation of these cases to DSPE, the Central Bureau of Investigation. Consequently, five regular cases were registered with the CBI and an investigation was carried out.
After the completion of the investigation, charge sheets were filed by the CBI on different dates against the 21 accused persons in the Designated TADA Court, Ajmer.
The Supplementary Chargesheet was filed against the proclaimed offenders, including Hameer-ul-Uddin, who were later arrested by the CBI. Thereafter, the trial commenced against them in the Tada Court, Ajmer.
"On February 29, 2024, the TADA Court, Ajmer, pronounced the judgement vide which the trial court sentenced the accused persons, namely Hameer-ul-Uddin and Irfan Ahmed, to life imprisonment and acquitted one accused (Tunda)," the CBI spokesperson said.
The CBI undertook a thorough investigation and collected collaborative pieces of evidence, which were upheld by the trial court. During the trial, the CBI produced a number of evidences and witnesses, which led to the conviction of as many as 12 accused.
Two people were killed and at least 22 injured in the explosions on the Mumbai-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, the New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani Express, the Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, the Surat-Baroda Flying Queen Express and the Hyderabad-New Delhi AP Express.
"The court has acquitted Abdul Karim Tunda of all the charges framed against him. He is completely innocent. He has been acquitted of every section of every act by the court. The prosecution could not provide enough evidences to prove the charges," his counsel, Shafquatullah Sultani, told reporters in Ajmer.