Mumbai: Could actor Sanjay Dutt have prevented the deadly Mumbai bomb blasts of 1993 that killed 257 people and left 1,400 injured?
Ujjwal Nikam, who was a public prosecutor in the matter, believes he could have. In a recent freewheeling chat with Subhankar Mishra on his YouTube channel, Nikam said that it was Dutt’s craze for weapons that caused his downfall at that time. The actor was arrested under the Arms Act after an Ak-56 rifle was found in his possession and had to spend seven years in jail.
The Indian Express has quoted Nikam as saying thaf Dutt may not have known anything about the blasts but he was aware that gangsters like Abu Salem were in possession of large stocks of sophisticated weapons and explosives. Had he informed the authorities, the blasts may have been prevented.
“I personally believe that he was crazy about weapons. And that’s why he had one AK-56 rifle. But before the blasts, Abu Salem sent a tempo full of weapons to him. Sanjay saw it, kept a rifle for himself, and returned the rest…. Had he informed the authorities, Salem and the others may have been arrested and the blasts not taken place,” the PP said.
Nikam also said that the AK-56 rifle was not the first illegal weapon in Dutt’s possession. The actor’s lawyer had prayed to the court at that time to go easy on Dutt as it was his first offfence. The PP had, however, brought to light that Dutt had purchased a 9 pm pistol (a banned bore) in the past from a close aide of Dawood Ibrahim.
When asked if he had faced any pressure in the matter, Nilam said that Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray had spoken to him with a request and urged him to let Dutt go as he is innocent. Thackeray apparently said that the actor was a very simple, kind hearted man. If anyone went up to him and said he was in trouble, he would listen.
There was also a lot of pressure from Bollywood, Nikam said. The whole of Bollywood stood in Dutt’s favour after the arrest but the PP managed to shut them down.
“After the court pronounced him guilt Bollywood launched a campaign saying, ‘Baba, you are not guilty, we are with you.’ So I gave a statement in the press, ‘I will prosecute, you are trying to pressurise the judiciary.’ Bollywood thanda pad gaya (Bollywood stopped after that),” Nikam said.
