’93 serial blasts accused plea in TADA court

Mumbai: An accused in the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts case has again filed an application before the special TADA court claiming that he is “Hamza” and not “Feroze Rashid” as claimed by the prosecution. The application had also been made earlier and was negated by the prosecution. Interestingly, Rashid had recently filed an application seeking to turn approver, a right afforded only to accused in a case.
During an earlier plea Rashid had filed a list of 14 witnesses before the court in an attempt to prove his complaint. While a few witnesses supported his claims, a man claiming to be his school mate had told the court that he was infact Feroze and not Hamza. The man said that he had approached the court after reading reports in a local newspaper about Rashid's claims. He further alleged that he was aware that the accused had been an “anti-social element” since their school days.