"Return of the Memons: A Pyrrhic Victory" continues...

This anecdote, again apocryphal, further bolstered Tiger’s image of devil-may-care attitude towards governmental authority.

Further investigation in the Mumbai serial bomb blasts revealed that hidden in Memon’s
premises in Al-Hussaini building in Mahim were pressed card-board boxes with traces of
explosive material. Apparently, these boxes were containers of RDX and bore markings
obliterated with white paint. Forensic examination later showed the markings to be of Wah Nobel Private Limited, Wah Cantonment, Islamabad, Pakistan.

As countless layers of the conspiracy behind this horrific crime unfolded one by one, it became clear that the triad of Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon and Mohammad Dossa, well-known smugglers and underworld dons of Bombay, was behind the blasts. They had used their extensive smuggling infrastructure and network of seafarers, couriers, landing agents, jetties, warehouses; the support of compromised customs and police officers, local and offshore financiers etc. for causing the blasts. Dawood Ibrahim had fled Bombay in the ’80s to escape prosecution in numerous cases pending against him and made Dubai and Karachi as his hideouts since then. Dossa escaped after the blasts while Tiger Memon fled in the morning of 12th March, the day of
the blasts, itself. He had dispatched his large joint family in two groups on 10th and 11th March. His brother Yaqub, a qualified Chartered Accountant, one of his six brothers, had left on the 11th along with his wife Rahin and two brothers Essa and Yusuf.

Their escape in the nick of time and use of their premises and vehicles for making bombs were evidence enough of their complicity in the dastardly act of terror on their own city, which had been their home for ever. They were all made absconding accused in the case and Interpol Red Notices were issued against them.

I was then posted as the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime Branch in the Delhi Police. Like other police officers of the country, I felt proud of the alacrity with which the Bombay Police had solved the crime.

To be continued...