November 28, 2006

Not pressed charges

Excerpts from press reports in April 1993:
  • Afternoon Despatch & Courier April 12 1993, Top stars, MLAs got arms from Dawood: The Bombay Police have stumbled upon the names of several film personalities, MLAs and corporators, who owned illegal arms allegedly supplied by the underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim. The arms were either gifted by Dawood or sold to these persons at cheap rates.

    Interrogation of suspects in connection with the bomb blasts has thrown up names of film personalities such as Sanjay Dutt ... The suspects have also named Shiv Sena MLA Madhukar Sarpotdar among nine politicians who acquired arms from the D-gang or his henchmen. The arms were mainly sophisticated revolved, valued at Rs 1.5 lakh each, according to police sources.

  • Indian Express April 20 1993, Sanjay Dutt arrested: [Chief Minister Sharad Pawar told the Legislative Council] "The suspect who named Sanjay had during the interrogation revealed several other names including that of [Shiv Sena MLA] Madhukar Sarpotdar. But we have not pressed charges against all."

  • Times of India April 20 1993, Sanjay Dutt held under TADA: Sanjay came under a cloud when his name cropped up during the interrogation of two film distributors. Samir Hingora and Hanif Lakdawalla, proprietors of Magnum Video, had reportedly indicated that one of the three AK-56 assault rifles they had procured had been sold to Sanjay. ...

    Those who were arrested earlier had mentioned various names, including that of Mr Madhukar Sarpotdar, Mr Pawar said [in the Legislative Council], but Mr Sarpotdar's house was also not searched.
After a trial lasting 12 years, the TADA court trying the 1993 bomb blast case has today (Nov 28 2006) found Sanjay Dutt guilty under the Arms Act, of possessing a deadly weapon. He was not found guilty of being involved in the bomb blasts conspiracy.

Sarpotdar, named in the same investigation that threw up Sanjay Dutt's name, by the same people who named Sanjay Dutt, has never been tried.

As a reminder, here is what Sarpotdar was up to on the night of Monday January 11 1993, two months before the bomb blasts, three months before these news reports. (Excerpted from Clarence Fernandez and Naresh Fernandes, "A City at War With Itself", When Bombay Burned).
    [T]he Army detained the Shiv Sena MLA Madhukar Sarpotdar in the troubled suburb of Nirmal Nagar late on Monday night and searched his car to find two revolvers and several other weapons ... Travelling with Sarpotdar was his son Atul, carrying an unlicensed Spanish revolver. Though Sarpotdar had a license for his gun, he too was breaking the law by carrying it during the riots. Also in the company was one Anil Parab. [T]he police commissioner [refused] to indicate whether this man was the notorious gangster of the same name, the hitman of the Dawood gang.
(The same Anil Parab?)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Verdict on Sanjay looks fair- guilty on possession, acquitted on conspiracy.

Re: non-prosecution of SS guy.
Been noticing this since your posts on the sequence of Blasts vs Riots and the ensuing comments there.

Why would NCP/ Congress spare this person? Is there some kind of understanding there between the parties on not investigating each other's misdoings?

Off-topic, I would like to know your opinion on the recent CNN_IBN news story on Afzal, especially his brother Aijaz's take on him/ the verdict etc.

regards,
Jai

Anonymous said...

You are right that many other persons might similarly have been involved in similar kind of activities, but because of one or the other reason, they were not booked or were not prosecuted or were not convicted. I agree up to that point. But, I am sorry I cannot agree with you beyond that point if you want to suggest that because some other persons were let off for similar offences so Sanjay Dutt should also be let off! If 10 thefts are committed in a day and only one of the 10 thieves is caught or could be caught, that does not mean that the one thief who has been caught is innocent or should also be let off. I'm afraid I cannot agree with such logic if this is what you want to suggest. In our inefficient and corrupt system, if we can catch even some of the criminals at least, I would look at it as glass half-full and not as a glass half-empty.

In fact, on my blog, I have written that I find the justice to be just in case of Sanjay Dutt. You may please see it if you so wish at http://ashokdhamija.blogspot.com/ ("a few weird thoughts...!").

Regards,

Dr Ashok Dhamija.

Dilip D'Souza said...

Dr Dhamija, I have in no way suggested, nor do I believe, that Dutt should be let off. I merely offer you some food for thought. When men under investigation offer two names to the police, saying the same things about those two names, why would one be tried and convicted and the other not?

Gautam Ghosh said...

wow !

Thanks for posting this, Dilip !

Food for thought indeed !

Would Mr. Pawar care to explain?

Anonymous said...

Mr D'souza, I fully agree with what you have clarified. This is the unfortunate story of our system. No doubt, we continue to have and may continue to have such terrorist acts...! Until the system gets revamped.

For Mr Ghosh, You can't expect an explanation from Mr Pawar, one of the smartest politicians we have had.

Anonymous said...

a recurrent theme of the comments on your blogs is

******************************
Critic:
"I agree with A (wot you are saying) but (if) it means B (which is what I believe you are hinting at) then I do not agree with it because ...ni ni ni ni..."

Dilip:
But I said A, I mean A I dont mean B. I am hinting, infering, mentioning, depicting, enumerating, endorsing / opposing A. Not B.

***************************

I am in love this 'B-Inference'. they rule.

Baby Vaijayanthi.

Anonymous said...

Madhukar Sirpotdar, as we all know won the 98 elections when (the incumbent?) Sunil Dutt , (Sanjay's father) refused to contest.

So let me be audacious and try to solve the conundrum posed by Dilip.

Even if the investigation details are exactly the same, including the crime and probably its implications (in this case, in fact, Sirpotdars crime is a bit worse than Dutt's cos he was literally brandishing the weapons in the riot infested areas. Sanjay only possessed them);

what is not the same is the opportunity that the revelation presents to THEM.

Now, THEY obviously had more to gain out of Sanjay, which he would have to perpetually compensate for, failure to do so..would lead to unpleasant consequences.

As for Mr. Sarpotdar, our good man has paid his dues, and thank fully for him , his karma is not lucrative enough.

SO children, moral of the story is KEEP AN EYE on the price of your KARMA....never do stuff beyond wot you can buy.

Anonymous said...

Poor Dclobbered. Sounding so bitter. Only secularists getting sent to jail and not a single Hindu. Heartbreak hotel, baby.