Tiger memon

Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razak Nadim Memon (born November 24, 1960), better known by nickname Tiger Memon one of the prime suspects in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case. He is wanted by Interpol and the CBI. He is a member of D-Company and is a Gang Member of its leader, Dawood Ibrahim. He got the dubious nickname 'Tiger' after helping a petty drugs and weapons smuggler to evade the grips of the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police by driving his car recklessly over 100 km/h on one way roads.

1993 Bombay bombings

His role, the prime accused in the blasts, had been confirmed by the Special Court after the conviction of the others accused in the case. On September 15, 2014 the special TADA court, hearing the long-drawn out case around the 1993 Bombay bombings, convicted four members of the Memon family: Yakub, Essa, Rubina and Yusuf. Three other members of the Memon family — Suleiman, Hanifa and Rahil — have been acquitted with the judge giving them the benefit of the doubt. The four Memons have been held guilty on charges of conspiring and abetting acts of terror. They face jail terms ranging from a minimum of five years to life imprisonment. Yakub Memon, the younger brother of prime accused 'Tiger' Memon, had been charged for possession of unauthorised arms and was executed by hanging on 30 July 2015 at 06:35 IST in Nagpur jail.

Tiger Memon wanted to bomb plane at Sahar Airport to avenge Mumbai riots, says 1993 bomb blasts accused
Atir Khan  New Delhi, Saturday, August 1, 2015

1993 Mumbai bomb blasts
Tiger Memon, the main conspirator in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, had a bigger terror plan. It was aimed at spreading greater panic. This has been revealed by a 1993 Mumbai blasts accused.

Tiger had planned to attack an aircraft at Mumbai's Sahar Airport to avenge the Mumbai riots. But his plan went awry as the team entrusted to carry out the attack backed out.

A silver smuggler-turned-terrorist Tiger's role in the 1993 bomb blasts as one of the main conspirators has been well recorded by the CBI's voluminous probe. Twenty two years after the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, Mail Today brings to you exclusive details of Tiger's plans to explode an aircraft at Mumbai's Sahar Airport.

Confessional statement (a copy of which is available with Mail Today) of one of the accused in the 1993 blasts Nasir Abdul Kadar Kewal revealed Tiger had schemed to bomb an aircraft at the Sahar Airport.

In his statement to CBI, Nasir had said that Tiger had formed a special team to carry out the attack and he was also one of the team members. According to the plan, the team was supposed to wait in a car on the runway and was commissioned to bomb the aircraft as soon as it approached them.

Nasir said he was aware Tiger was a smuggler and a renowned "dada" (underworld operative), who used to travel in a Maruti 1000 car. So, there was pressure on him to comply.

On March 12, 1993 Tiger called him and informed him that he had to carry out a grenade attack at an aircraft at the Sahar Airport. He said Tiger was advised that this attack would not solve their purpose of creating panic as extensive damage to the aircraft was not possible from a distance.

However, Tiger was of the view as long as some damage to the wing of the aircraft was caused it would have served their purpose. But the operation was called off and Tiger fled to Pakistan and the team backed out.

Mail Today also has a copy of transcript of conversation that took place at Yakub Memon's Karachi residence in May 1994. Tiger had also participated in it. This confirms his whereabouts were in Karachi one year after the 1993 blasts. Transcripts also show that the code word used by Memons and their associates to address Pakistan's ISI was International Sports Agency.

This conversation was recorded by Yakub Memon and handed over to CBI to prove his loyalty. However, CBI probe documents which run into thousands of pages also reveal that Yakub, on insistence of Tiger, had provided funds to the 1993 blasts accused.

A top intelligence source said Tiger continues to enjoy support of ISI but there is no record of his involvement in any terror or terrorist motivational activities in the recent past.

Earlier, in one of the disclosures by a terror operative who had come to India to target an oil refinery, Tiger's name had surfaced but no clear-cut evidence of his involvement could be found.

Intelligence sources say Tiger is still living in Karachi under the patronage of ISI. However, he keeps a low profile and has possibly changed his appearance as well. Former home secretary RK Singh, when asked about the whereabouts of the absconders, said both Tiger and Dawood Ibrahim are in Pakistan.

Intelligence sources said it cannot be said with clarity whether Tiger is running his business with Dawood or has started his own gang. It had been confirmed that he had diversified into real estate business and also got into the business of exporting meat to West Asian countries.

In popular culture

The notorious activities of Tiger Memon was a major part of Anurag Kashyap's film Black Friday (2004), which is based on the 1993 Bombay bombings. Memon was played by Bollywood actor Pavan Malhotra.