Turk pleads for leniency in 93 blasts case

Taking a cue from Yakub Memon's plea, another convict in the 1993 bomb blasts case, Abdul Ghani Turk on Thursday pleaded that those found responsible for the riots by Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry be prosecuted on the same lines as the blast accused.

Pleading for leniency in his sentence before the designated TADA court on Thursday saying he was not a terrorist, Turk said, "Those found responsible by the Srikrishna Commission should also be dealt in accordance with law."

Earlier, Yakub, while giving a statement on quantum of punishment after his conviction, had raised the same issue saying those indicted by Srikrishna Commission of Inquiry probing the 1992-93 Mumbai riots, should be punished.

Turk appealed for a leniency in sentence before the court saying he has an 80-year-old mother and two daughters who are yet to marry and the responsibility of the entire family is on his shoulders.

Affirming that he is as much an Indian as anybody else, he said, "I am not a terrorist and was misguided and dragged into the conspiracy by co-accused. My family has been staying in India for generations and will continue to do so."

The designated TADA court had on September 19 found Turk guilty of parking an RDX-laden jeep at Centry Bazaar during the 1993 serial blasts.

Turk was also found guilty of participating in the RDX landing operation at Shekhadi coast in Raigad district and filling of RDX in different vehicles which were used in the 1993 serial bomb blasts.