Public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam has revisited the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case, revealing that actor Sanjay Dutt, although indirectly concerned within the conspiracy, might have helped avert the tragedy. Talking in a current interview, Nikam shared that Sanjay’s obsession with weapons led him to own an AK-56 rifle provided by underworld determine Abu Salem — a choice that later landed the actor behind bars.
‘Sanjay Dutt didn’t know in regards to the blasts’
In a chat with Shubhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, Ujjwal Nikam mentioned that whereas Sanjay was not conscious of the blasts, he was responsible of illegally protecting a weapon. “Personally, I consider that he was loopy about weapons. And that’s why he had one AK-56 rifle. However earlier than the blasts, Abu Salem introduced one tempo filled with weapons and Sanjay noticed it and saved one rifle for himself and returned the remainder,” he defined.The prosecutor recalled that Sanjay was imprisoned beneath the Arms Act for seven years. “He didn’t know that the blast was going to occur however he ought to have knowledgeable the police when he noticed the weapons,” Nikam mentioned.
‘He might have stopped the assaults’
When requested about his earlier declare that Sanjay might have prevented the 1993 serial blasts, Nikam mentioned, “If he had knowledgeable the police in regards to the tempo filled with weapons, the police would have adopted it up. They’d have apprehended the accused. That’s why I mentioned it. Even when he didn’t know in regards to the blasts, simply informing in regards to the weapons might have prevented the tragedy.”Nikam additionally clarified that he confronted no exterior stress in the course of the trial, regardless of Sanjay being certainly one of Bollywood’s greatest stars. “There was no stress on me. When the courtroom punished him beneath the Arms Act, his lawyer mentioned it was his first offence. I opposed it as a result of Sanjay had earlier purchased a 9mm pistol from Dawood Ibrahim’s right-hand man. So, he couldn’t get that profit,” he said.
Bal Thackeray’s intervention and Bollywood’s marketing campaign
Recalling political involvement within the case, Nikam mentioned that late actor-politician Sunil Dutt had sought Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray’s assist. “Thackeray met me too and mentioned, ‘He’s harmless, let him go.’ He was a kind-hearted man who believed everybody who got here to him,” Nikam remembered.The prosecutor additionally revealed how Bollywood rallied behind Sanjay after his conviction. “After the courtroom declared him responsible, Bollywood began a marketing campaign — ‘Baba, you aren’t responsible, we’re with you.’ I advised the press, ‘I’ll prosecute, you are attempting to pressurise the judiciary.’ Bollywood thanda pad gaya (Bollywood went quiet after that),” he mentioned.Sanjay Dutt was acquitted of fees associated to the 1993 blasts in 2007 however was sentenced to 6 years in jail for unlawful possession of arms. He accomplished his sentence in 2016.