The assault rifle seized from the residence of a member of Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar’s gang earlier this year has been confirmed to be part of the arsenal which was smuggled into the city along with the explosives used in the 1993 serial bomb blasts, the police said on Tuesday.
On July 7, the Anti Extortion Cell of the Thane Crime Branch had arrested Goregaon resident Yasmin Sheikh after an AK-56 rifle was seized from her residence. The police had also seized three magazines, 95 live rounds, two 9 mm pistols and 13 live rounds, and booked Yasmin’s husband, Naeem Sheikh, a history-sheeter currently in prison in an attempt to murder case.
According to police sources, the rifle was wrapped in a newspaper dating back to 1997, leading the police to suspect that the rifle was part of the 1993 arsenal. “We sent it for testing and comparison to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina. The FSL, after going through its records, confirmed that it matches the serial numbers of the rifles seized after the 1993 blasts,” senior police inspector, Thane AEC, Pradeep Sharma told The Hindu.
The FSL’s report said, “Residue of fired ammonium-nitrate was detected in the barrel washings of the rifle, showing that it was fired prior to its receipt at the laboratory.” Mr. Sharma said inquiries are still under way to find out when and where the rifle was fired by Naeem or Yasmin.
The 1993 serial blasts were the outcome of the tehreek-e-inteqaam (movement for revenge), which began in several Middle Eastern countries in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. The tehreek crystallised in the form of a meeting in Dubai between late December 1992 and early January 1993, which was attended by Tiger Memon and Taher Merchant. Memon has been named as an absconding accused in the case, while Merchant, who was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to death, died while in jail in the Yerawada Central Jail in Pune on April 19 this year. The serial blasts were proposed in this meeting and the plan was unanimously accepted and approved.
“The masterminds of the serial blasts wanted their community to be prepared for the fallout of the blasts and hence, along with RDX, they also sent AK-56 assault rifles, ammunition and hand grenades to be distributed among the community. It has for long been believed that only some part of this arsenal was seized by the investigating team following the blasts, and that some of it still remains hidden,” a senior police officer said.