Black Friday - The Biggest Attack on Mumbai

There have been umpteen Terrorist attacks on numerous places on the planet and many casualties have been caused due to this. Then why is it that we still consider the Mumbai Attacks of 1993 to be the most massive coordinated attack till date?

There are several reasons for this. Primarily it was due to the number of people involved and the scale of this operation; from Bollywood producers and starlets to influential businessmen, custom officials and smugglers; everyone had their own part to play in these tragic events that haunted Mumbai for years to come. So what exactly happened? What instigated such a masterplan to be made in the first place and cause the terror and destruction that was the aftermath of this conspiracy coming together?

The Prelude:

Before you begin reading about the origins of the conspiracy that triggered a series of 13 coordinated bomb blasts and ended with the over 250+ fatalities and 700+ injuries, it is important to know what prompted such a step to be taken in the first place.

It all began in Ayodhya with the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. Hindu Karsevaks destroyed the 16th century disputed structure in Ayodhya in an attempt to reclaim the land known as Ram Janmabhoomi. It was not hard to predict the result of this demolition in a culturally diverse nation like India. The impact although, was most severe in Bombay (now Mumbai). This was followed by a series of communal riots which continued from December 1992 till January 1993 in which over 1,000 people were killed and many more injured and scarred for life.

Any idiocy and cruelty that has ever been recorded in the annals of history re-emerges during communal riots. As religious hatred engulfed the nation and over 1,000 people died, every possible refinement in human unkindness and poignant twists of fate were on display. 

The Attack:

On 12th March, 1993, at 1:30 pm a powerful car bomb exploded in the basement of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building. The 28-story office building housing the exchange was severely damaged, and many nearby office buildings also suffered some damage. About 50 were killed by this explosion. About 30 minutes later, another car bomb exploded elsewhere in the city and from 1:30 pm to 3:40 pm a total of 13 bombs exploded throughout Bombay. Most of the bombs were car bombs, but some were in scooters.

Three hotels, the Hotel Sea Rock, Hotel Juhu Centaur, and Hotel Airport Centaur, were targeted by suitcase bombs left in rooms booked by the perpetrators. Banks, the regional passport office, hotels, the Air India Building, and a major shopping complex were also hit. Bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazaar, area opposite of Century Bazaar, Katha Bazaar, Shiv Sena Bhawan, and Plaza Theatre. A jeep-bomb at the Century Bazaar exploded. Grenades were also thrown at Sahar International Airport and at Fishermen's Colony, apparently targeting Hindus at the latter. A double decker bus was very badly damaged in one of the explosions and that single incident accounted for the greatest loss of life – perhaps up to ninety people were killed.

After the Attacks:

It's been two decades now since this horrific event occurred and after detailed investigations and interrogations, the Supreme Court of India has handed out sentences to the prime accused and other conspirators directly or indirectly involved in this horrific act. Out of the 123 accused, the Supreme Court convicted 100 people for their involvement in the act of terrorism.

This case was spearheaded and cracked by Rakesh Maria, who is currently the Chief of the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Maharashtra. When the case fell upon him back in 1993, he was Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He methodically collected evidence and interrogated the accused to piece together the entire operation that spanned from Dubai to Pakistan and was finally executed in Mumbai. Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, the two main conspirators and masterminds of the attacks, are still at large.

"The Supreme Court verdict has proved that the investigation by the Mumbai police after the 1993 bomb blasts was without any prejudice", Rakesh Maria claimed after the verdict was out

“A team of around 162 officers scanned 79 towns of 17 States. A charge sheet of 9,392 pages was put against 123 accused, out of which 100 have been convicted. Our team did a perfect job, which has been proved after the Supreme Court verdict,” he said.

This has indeed been one of the most severe and brutal acts of terrorism, considering the magnitude and losses incurred by the city. Property worth approximately Rs.27 crore was damaged or destroyed resulting in the death of 257 people and injuries to 713.