A TADA court today issued an arrest warrant against an associate of Tiger Memon convicted in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case as he failed to surrender by the April 18 deadline set by the Supreme Court.
Manoj Kumar Bhanwarilal Gupta alias Munna, an associate of prime absconding accused Tiger, is not traceable according to the CBI. As per the prosecution, he had accompanied Tiger to adjoining Raigad district to facilitate the landing of arms and ammunition prior to the March 12, 1993, blasts and also on return journey to Mumbai to distribute the contraband to co-accused.
Munna was awarded 14 years imprisonment, which he has already served, by the Special Court and was on bail. However, the apex court enhanced his sentence to life term. He is now absconding and has missed the deadline to surrender.
In another development, Ranjit Singh, a former Customs officer convicted in the same case, surrendered today to serve the remaining sentence awarded to him by the TADA Court.
Singh apologised to Designated TADA Court Judge G A Sanap and said he could not surrender on April 18 because of some family commitments. The court also accepted the plea made by Singh's lawyer Farhana Shah to allow the convict to take medicines along with him in jail.
Singh was given nine years imprisonment of which he has spent about eight years in prison.
Thirty-six other convicts surrendered on April 17 and 18 before the TADA Court here in keeping with the deadline. All of them have been kept in central prison at Arthur Road in central Mumbai from where they would be sent to various prisons in Maharashtra to serve their remaining sentence.
Eight convicts, including actor Sanjay Dutt, have been given additional time by the Supreme Court to return to jail.
In 1993, 13 blasts rocked various parts of Mumbai killing 257 and injuring over 700 others.
