Mulund blasts: Three witnesses depose for bomb planter Ansari

A special POTA court on Friday recorded the statements of three witnesses, who were examined by key accused and bomb planter Muzammil Ansari, convicted for carrying out multiple blasts in the city during 2002 and 2003.

The court had allowed Ansari’s plea to examine Afroz Khan, an accused in another terror case;  his 

brother Imtiyaz Rahim and Uday Pathak, a murder accused.

The court, which convicted 10 of 13 accused on March 29 in the blasts case, is hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence.

The Mulund train blasts had occurred on March 13, 2003, killing 12 people and injuring 71. On December 6, 2002, several people were injured in the blast at the McDonald’s at the Mumbai Central station, while a person died when a bomb attached to a cycle exploded in a market area in Vile Parle (East) on January 27, 2003.

Muzammil’s brother Rahim said the former was the eldest son and helped all his siblings. “Muzammil was so good in studies that he even secured a scholarship and his fees were waived,” Rahim deposed.

Rahim also told the court that after their father’s sickness, the family’s financial condition was very bad and at that time Muzammil helped financially and also took care of his siblings’ education. He added after Muzammil’s arrest, the family looked for him for days.

Rahim said whenever the family visited Muzammil in court or jail, they always felt that he was innocent and would come out sooner or later. Rahim said for the past two years Muzammil had become increasingly irritable. He added that Muzammil did not understand things when told for the first time. “If he is given the maximum sentence, the parents will die upon hearing about it,” Rahim told the court.

Afroze Khan said he had met Muzammil in Thane jail in 2008. He added when he was suffering from TB, Muzammil took good care of him.