BOMBAY, 23 September 2006 — In the ongoing trial in the case of the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Bombay, a special anti-terrorist court yesterday found two old men guilty of cooperating and helping two alleged masterminds of the blasts — Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar and Tiger Memon.

A dozen bombs went off over a two-hour period in Bombay, India’s commercial and entertainment capital, on March 12, 1993. Nine people have been convicted so far in the case.

Judge Pramod Kode found Dawood Phanse, 82, guilty of conspiracy, attending a meeting in January 1993 with Dawood Ibrahim and Tiger Memon in Dubai and planning the transport of arms and ammunition. Phanse faces the death sentence.

Judge Kode found the second man, Sharif Parkar, 78, guilty of identifying a location for arms training, helping transport the weapons and arranging meetings with Indian customs and police officials to clear the smuggled goods. But he said Parkar was not guilty of conspiracy since he did not have any knowledge that the shipment contained arms and explosives.

Parkar is the first in this case to be accused but not convicted of conspiracy and now faces a life sentence instead of the death penalty.

Phanse and Parkar were smugglers who worked for Memon and Ibrahim and normally helped smuggle goods like silver and electronic merchandise from big ships to small boats and into villages that line India’s western coast.

Because of their ages, both men were permitted to sit while the judge pronounced the verdicts.

Phanse, who has a long white beard, was helped into his seat by his son, who is also on trial. He showed no reaction when Kode announced the guilty verdict.

Parkar looked relieved when the judge said, “You are guilty but not of the conspiracy charge, which was not proven.” His son, also accused but out on bail, was seated in the courtroom.

Both Phanse and Parkar are among 29 people who have been imprisoned since their arrests in 1993-94. The special court has so far convicted 11 people, including four members of Memon’s family, in the case. Sentencing could take up to two months since Kode has said he will hand out sentences once all the verdicts have been given.

Some 123 people, most of them Muslims, are awaiting the judge’s verdict in what is being described as India’s longest judicial trial.

The trial began in June 1995, included 686 witnesses, and ended in January 2003. The delay in the verdicts was blamed largely on procedural matters.