A scene after serial bomb blasts in Mumbai 1993. (File)
Mohammed Tahir Merchant, a close aide of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim who was on death row after being convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, died in the early hours of Wednesday from a suspected cardiac arrest. He had been lodged in the high-security Yerwada prison since September last year.
Additional Director General (Prisons), Bhushankumar Upadhyay, confirmed that Merchant died in the early hours of Wednesday. “He complained of chest pain around 3 am and was taken to the Sassoon General Hospital. He was declared dead at 3.45 am. The death is suspected to be due to a heart attack. A post-mortem and inquiry by police will be conducted to ascertain the cause of death… that’s the procedure for any death in custody or prison,” said a Yerwada prison official. “Merchant had a heart condition and had also undergone some medical procedures in the past… he was on medication,” added the official. Merchant’s family members have been informed about his death, said jail officials.
On Merchant’s death, Sassoon Hospital Dean Ajay Chandanwale said, “The patient was brought dead. The post-mortem examination will ascertain the cause of death.”