Hanif Syed, sentenced to death in 2003 Mumbai blasts, dies at hospital
Nagpur, Feb 10: Mohammad Hanif Syed, one of the three convicts sentenced to death in the 2003 Mumbai twin bomb blasts and currently lodged in the Nagpur Central Jail, died at a hospital, a prison officer said Sunday.
Syed's health suddenly deteriorated Saturday evening, following which he was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) where he died one and half hours after admission, Jail Superintendent Rani Bhosle told PTI Sunday night.
"The exact cause of his death will be known after post-mortem which will be conducted Monday in the presence of his relatives who have arrived in the city Sunday," she said, adding that Syed's body will be handed over to his relatives after autopsy.
As per preliminary information and symptoms, he could have died of a cardiac arrest, Bhosle said.
Syed, his wife Fehmida and third conspirator Ashrat Ansari were convicted by a POTA (Prevention of Terrorist Activity) court in 2009 of planting powerful bombs in two taxis which exploded at the iconic Gateway of India and Zaveri Bazaar on August 25, 2003, leaving 52 people dead and 244 injured.
Syed was shifted to the Nagpur Central Jail from Yerwada jail in 2012, after the Bombay high court upheld his death sentence.
The Lashkar-e-Toiba's role in the twin blasts was revealed by an accused-turned-approver.
It was for the first time that the LeT had used a family to carry out bomb blasts in the country.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
