 "TADA Court acquits Abdul Karim Tunda, main accused in 1993 Mumbai blasts")
The Terrorist and Anti-Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) court acquitted Abdul Karim Tunda, the main accused in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case, on Thursday. Two other accused in the case have reportedly been sentenced to life imprisonment.
Syed Abdul Karim, alias Tunda, was accused of masterminding more than 40 bombings in India in 1993 before fleeing to Bangladesh. It is believed that Pakistani terror groups supported Tunda.
He was arrested by the Indian authorities in 2013 from the India-Nepal border at Banbasa. Despite being accused of several bombings, he received a clean chit from Delhi Court in 2016 on four cases against him. The court, at the time, stated that the Delhi Police had failed to bring significant evidence against him to frame the charges.
The alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, however, remained in lock-up due to several pending cases against him.
In 2017, the court awarded life imprisonment to then-75 year old Tunda, for his role in the 1996 Sonepat bomb blasts case and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh. He is currently serving out this sentence.
Speaking to ANI outside the court, Advocate Shafqat Sultani said, "Abdul Karim Tunda is innocent, today the Court gave this judgement. Abdul Karim Tunda has been acquitted in all Sections and all Acts."
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"CBI prosecution could not produce any concrete piece of evidence before the court in TADA, IPC, Railway Acts, Arms Act, or Explosive Substances Act. We had been saying that from the beginning that Abdul Karim Tunda is innocent...Irfan and Hamiduddin have been convicted & quantum of the sentence will be pronounced shortly," he added.