Mumbai, September 14 :

A Muslim man was today convicted of murder for an attack on a jewellery market here 13 years ago during the deadliest day of bombings in India’s history, which killed 257 people.

Mohammed Kasam Ghansar faces a possible death sentence for killing 17 people and wounding 57 after leaving an explosives-laden scooter outside a market in Mumbai that was primed to detonate minutes after he walked away.

It was one of 12 blasts that rocked the Mumbai on March 12, 1993, allegedly on the orders of Mumbai’s Muslim-dominated underworld in retaliation for nationwide Hindu-Muslim riots that left hundreds dead.

Security was tight around the court for the verdict.

Ghansar was the first man convicted of planting bombs in the early stages of the verdicts for the 123 people standing trial at a special terrorism court in Mumbai. The process is likely to take weeks.

“He may face punishment ranging from five years to life imprisonment or even death,” Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told reporters outside the court.But Ghansar was acquitted of helping to spirit alleged blasts mastermind Tiger Memon out of the country hours before the bombs went off. Memon remains on the run.