1993 Bombay bombings

The 1993 Bombay bombings was a series of 12 terrorist bombings in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra, on 12 March 1993. The single-day attacks resulted in 257 fatalities and 1,400 injuries. The attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, leader of the Mumbai-based international organised crime syndicate D-Company.

On 21 March 2013, the Supreme Court of India, after 20 years of judicial proceedings, upheld the death sentence against suspected ringleader Yakub Memon while commuting the death sentences of 10 others to life imprisonment. Two main suspects in the case, Ibrahim and Tiger Memon, have not been arrested or tried. After India's three-judge Supreme Court bench rejected his curative petition, saying the grounds he raised did not fall within the principles laid down by the court in 2002, Yakub was executed by the Maharashtra government on 30 July 2015.

In December 1992 and January 1993, there was widespread rioting throughout the nation following the demolition of the Babri Masjid, a five-century-old mosque, in Ayodhya, by a Hindutva mob. Some of the most notable riots occurred in Mumbai. Five years after the December–January riots, the Srikrishna Commission report found that 900 individuals had died and over 2,000 had been injured.

On 9 March 1993, three days before the bombings took place, a small-time criminal from the Bombay slum of Behrampada named Gul Noor Mohammad Sheikh (aka "Gullu or yahya") was detained at the Nag Pada police station. Gullu was one of the 19 men handpicked for weapons training by Tiger Memon, a silver smuggler whose office was burnt in the riots. Tiger became chief mastermind of the bombings and for training in the use of guns and bomb-making.

Gullu had been sent to Pakistan via Dubai on 19 February 1993 and upon completion of his training returned to Mumbai on 4 March. In his absence, the police detained Gullu's brothers to encourage him to surrender, which he did. He confessed to his role in the riots, his training in Pakistan, and a conspiracy underway to bomb major locations around the city, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sahar International Airport and the Shiv Sena. However, his conspiracy claim was dismissed by the police as a "mere bluff". Gullu's arrest advanced the date of the bombings which had originally been planned to coincide with the Shiv Jayanti celebrations in April 1993.

At 13:30 hours on 12 March 1993, a powerful car bomb exploded in the basement of the Bombay Stock Exchange building. The 28-storey office building was severely damaged and many nearby office buildings also suffered damage. Reports indicate that 50 were killed by this explosion. About 30 minutes later, another car bomb exploded in front of the Mandvi branch of Corporation Bank. From 1:30 p.m to 3:40 p.m, a total of 12 bombs exploded throughout Mumbai. 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, the Air India Building, and a major shopping complex were also hit. Bombs exploded at Zaveri Bazaar and opposite it, a jeep-bomb exploded at the Century Bazaar. Grenades were thrown at Sahar International Airport and at Fishermen's Colony, apparently targeting certain citizens at the latter. A double-decker bus was very badly damaged in the deadliest explosion, with as many as 90 people killed.

The locations attacked were: