The 60-year-old Tada convict got to visit his home only for six hours, as he is serving a life term for the March 1993 Bowbazar blasts, which killed 69 people and injured 40 others.
The don wrote to the authorities in the Alipore Central Jail asking for a month’s permission to stay with his
family as it was his son’s wedding. The
authorities, however, granted him only six hours on compassionate grounds as he had already spent over 14 years behind bars.
Muhammed Farid, Rashid’s youngest son, is getting married. Farid runs an STD booth-cum-cellphone shop on B B
Ganguly Street. “This is a small homely affair. We do not want any publicity or media attention. Only a handful of guests have been invited. No big affair,” said Hamid, Rashid’s elder son.
Talking to The Sunday Express, Rashid said: “I am happy that my son is getting married. My family has been shattered by what has happened in the past and such an occasion is rare in my life. Let me enjoy this brief moment of happiness.” According to sources, the dinner included biryani and several kinds of sweets.
Going back to the 1993 blasts, it is only Rashid and five of his associates who are behind bars now. The Bowbazar blasts that occurred only four days after the Mumbai serial blasts, was initially thought to be a terrorist act. But investigation into the blast had revealed within days that it was the handiwork of Kolkata’s underworld, who enjoyed strong links with the ruling CPM leaders.
The Kolkata police was also said to be fully aware of Rashid’s activities. But the police — some of whom had allegedly been on the pay roll of the “Satta King” — escaped unscathed. So did the political establishment, whose links to the don were established beyond any doubt.
Factfile
* Bombs went off on the night of March 16 at 267, Bipin Bihari Ganguly Street, killing 69 people.
* Rashid Khan, the only TADA convict from Bengal is now lodged in cell block 11 in the high-security Alipore Central Jail. He is in-charge of the 10 to 15 other convicts in the block. He has set up a small garden in the jail. He visits the jail library regularly and reads for hours.
* Khan and his five associates were arrested a day after the blasts. Two other accused, Parvez Khan and Imtiaz Khan are absconding.
* On September 1, 2001, Justice Pranab Kumar Deb of the Special TADA Court convicted Rashid Khan and sentenced him to life imprisonment.