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NEW DELHI: Six years after the twin blasts at Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar, which left 53 people dead, a special POTA Court in Mumbai has sentenced three convicted persons – Mohammed Hanif Sayed, his wife Fahimida and Ashrat Shafique Ansari – to death.Earlier, POTA Judge M R Puranik had convicted Ashrat Ashrat Ansari (32), Hanif Sayed Anees (46) and his wife Fehmida Sayed (43).
They had been convicted under various Sections of the IPC for conspiracy, murder and attempt to murder, Sections of the POTA, the Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.
On August 25, 2003, two bombs left in taxis exploded in south Mumbai – the Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar in the busy Kalbadevi area, killing 52 people and wounding more than a hundred others.
The attacks were carried out to “avenge” the deaths of Muslims during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

MUMBAI: An Indian judge on Tuesday adjourned sentencing on three people found guilty of planting bombs that killed 52 people in Mumbai in 2003, as the prosecutor pushed for the death penalty.Judge M.R. Puranik, sitting at a special anti-terror court in the city, deferred judgement on Haneef Sayyed, his wife Fahmeeda and Ashrat Ansari until Thursday after hearing arguments from their lawyers.
All three were convicted of a string of charges last week, including murder and attempted murder, after two bombs exploded at the Gateway of India monument and the Zaveri Bazaar jewellery quarter on August 25, 2003.