22 years on, terror convict held guilty in builder murder case

MUMBAI: A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court on Thursday convicted

Riyaz Siddiqui

(67) for the murder of builder Pradeep Jain 22 years ago. A convict in the 1993 serial blasts case, Siddiqui is awaiting sentencing on September 7. He is currently lodged at Taloja jail.

On March 7, 1995, hitmen hired by extradited gangster Abu Salem pumped 17 bullets into Pradeep Jain’s body at his Juhu office. His brother Sunil, an eyewitness, had suffered injuries in the attack. Salem, also a convict in the serial blasts case, had been pronounced guilty in the 1995 builder murder case and awarded life sentence two years ago.

On Thursday, special judge Govind A Sanap held that the prosecution has proved the murder was committed with an intention to strike terror in the minds of the Jains and the builder community. The court held that Siddiqui was an integral part of the conspiracy and convicted him. Dressed in white kurta-pyjama , Siddiqui was shocked when the verdict was pronounced a little after noon. His family arrived about half an hour later.

The court will hear arguments on the quantum of sentence on September 8. The maximum sentence under the charges Siddiqui has been convicted for, including Tada and murder charge under IPC, is death penalty.

Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said this is probably the first instance when an accused who had turned approver had turned hostile, thus forfeiting the pardon granted. “Siddiqui did not support the prosecution’s case and hence, was declared hostile. His trial was then separated from that of the other accused,” Nikam said.

Besides Salem, in 2015, the court had held Mehendi Hassan (50), a former driver, guilty for the murder, and rival builder V K Jhamb (86) guilty of extortion.

The other approver in the case, Naeem Khan, who was tendered pardon, provided evidence showing that Siddiqui had contacted Salem and Dawood’s brother Anees Ibrahim Kaskar with the proposal to get involved in a Kol Dongri property dispute to make money. Siddiqui attended the meeting held in Dubai in 1994 between Salem, Hassan and wanted accused Kaskar and Shaukat Mistry where they discussed the possibility of monetarily benefiting if Ashok Jain, Pradeep’s brother, was removed from the property. Naeem further deposed that Salem had told him that if needed, they would eliminate one of the Jain brothers. Following the meeting, the Jains were threatened by Salem and Kaskar, and Siddiqui advised them to give into the duo’s demands.

Sunil expressed his relief on the

conviction

, but lamented on the delayed justice. “One gets justice in this country, but it is delayed. We have waited 22 years,” he said. “Siddiqui was the one who started the conspiracy...He even visited the land and came to our office and threatened us. Later, he kept telling me that Salem is a very dreadful man; he said Salem won’t have mercy and would kill me and my family. They ruined my family and our business. We continued facing threats. I hope he gets the maximum sentence.”