Abdul Karim Tunda, 81, was accused of being the mastermind of explosions in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai in 1993
Abdul Karim Tunda, 81, was accused of being the mastermind of explosions in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai in 1993
Abdul Karim Tunda, 81, was accused of being the mastermind of explosions in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai in 1993
Abdul Karim Tunda, 81, was accused of being the mastermind of explosions in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai in 1993

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Indian court acquits Abdul Karim Tunda in 1993 serial bombings case

The bomb blasts ripped through trains in five cities during one December night

Taniya Dutta
Taniya Dutta

February 29, 2024

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An Indian court has acquitted an 81-year-old man accused of carrying out a series of bomb blasts in five cities across the country in 1993.

Abdul Karim Tunda was accused of being the mastermind of the explosions that ripped through trains in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai on the night of December 5-6 in 1993.

At least two people were killed and more than two dozen injured in the blasts.

The explosions coincided with the first anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Mosque by a Hindu mob in Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Tunda was arrested in 2014 after evading law enforcement agencies for more than a decade.

A special court in Ajmer in the western state of Rajasthan on Thursday acquitted him due to lack of evidence, his lawyer said.

“The honourable court has acquitted Abdul Karim Tunda from all the charges. We always said that he is innocent, and the court gave this judgment today,” Shafiktullah Sultani said outside the court.

Police escort Abdul Karim Tunda to court in a wheelchair at Ajmer Central Jail in Rajasthan, India, on Thursday. AFP
Police escort Abdul Karim Tunda to court in a wheelchair at Ajmer Central Jail in Rajasthan, India, on Thursday. AFP

Mr Sultani said the federal investigating agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation, could not produce concrete evidence against Mr Tunda.

The court, however, sentenced two other accused – Irfan, 70, and Hameeduddin, 44 – to life imprisonment.

The Indian police had alleged that Mr Tunda worked for the Pakistan-based, Al Qaeda-linked militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba as a bomb maker.

He was accused of being involved in several other bombings and is serving a life sentence over a bombing in northern Haryana state in 1996.

Mr Tunda will remain in jail.

The December 1993 bombings shocked the nation months after a series of highly co-ordinated attacks rocked the country's financial capital, Mumbai, then known as Bombay, in March, killing 257 people and injuring 1,400.

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Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

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Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

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Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

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The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Updated: February 29, 2024, 1:45 PM
India