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Rediff.com  » News » Ex-Customs officer and '93 blasts convict dies of illness

Ex-Customs officer and '93 blasts convict dies of illness

Source: PTI
April 11, 2008 15:46 IST
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Former Customs additional collector Somnath Thapa, convicted in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case, died after a prolonged illness at a hospital in Mumbai on Friday.

Thapa (60) was suffering from lung cancer, the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Actcourt sources said.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment by special TADA Court Judge Pramod Kode in July 2007.

Thapa, whose jurisdiction as the Customs officer extended through the neighbouring coastal Raigad district, facilitated the landing of arms and ammunition, including the lethal RDX.

This consignment was used by the perpetrators for triggering a series of blasts in Mumbai on March 12, 1993, killing 257 people and injuring over 700.

The prosecution did not ask for death sentence for Thapa as he was suffering from illness.

The Supreme Court had granted him bail on medical grounds in November 2007.

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