1993 firing: Suleman bakery owner resigned to court verdict

A day after the Bombay High Court cleared the nine policemen in the Suleman Usman Bakery firing case (of 16 years ago), Sunday MiD DAY visited the bakery.

1993 firing: Suleman bakery owner resigned to court verdict

A day after the Bombay High Court cleared the nine policemen in the Suleman Usman Bakery firing case (of 16 years ago), Sunday MiD DAY visited the bakery. Nothing has changed here, although the owner of the 75-year-old shop is a little more wary of speaking to strangers.

The system of operation remains unchanged, although the bakery (at Mohammed Ali Road) has become famous since the firing took place on January 9, 1993. When this reporter asked for Abdul Sattar, the owner, workers hesitated before revealing his whereabouts.

Sattar said he'd read the judgment in the newspapers. "The court did its job and now it is the almighty that will do his job," said Sattar, who lost five labourers during the firing.u00a0

Sattar said,u00a0 "I managed to get Rs 2 lakh compensation for each of our five families that was announced by the government. I also met them to check how they were earning their livelihood. It is now in the hands of god."

Vijay Pradhan, senior advocate for the petitioner, said, "We will challenge the judgment of Bombay HC in the Supreme Court. We will fight for justice."

Recent development

On Friday, Bombay High Court upheld a lower court order absolving former Mumbai police commissioner R D Tyagi and eight other policemen of the charge of killing eight people in the Suleman Bakery firing case during the Mumbai communal riots in 1992-93.

Justice Mridula Bhatkar in her ruling said that even though the trial court had 'rightly' termed the firing as 'unnecessary', there was insufficient evidence against Tyagi and the nine other accused to prove they had a common intention to murder.

What happened in 1993

Pydhonie cops sent a wireless message that they were being fired upon from the terrace of Suleman Bakery.
R D Tyagi, then Joint Commissioner, reached the spot and asked the miscreants to surrender. But after they refused, he asked his men to arrest them.

In the scuffle, the police opened fire in which eight people died while 12 others were injured. No firearms were recovered from the bakery apart from swords and sticks.u00a0