Yakub Memon Biography 
Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, shortly called Yakub Memon was an Indian terrorist who was convicted for the infamous 1993 Bombay bombings by Special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities court on 27 July 2007. Subsequently he was executed by hanging on 30 July 2015 in Nagpur jail, which became headlines in all Indian newspapers. He was a chartered accountant by profession and brother of prime suspect 1993 Bombay bombings – Tiger Memon. 1993 Bombay bombing - was a series of 13 bomb explosions that took place in Mumbai, then known as Bombay on 12 March 1993, which killed 357 innocent people and injured 717. This serial bomb blast was first one of this kind across the world till then. The attacks were coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim.
Yakub Abdul Razak Memon was born on 30 July 1962 in Mumbai, then known as Bombay. He grew up in Byculla, a neighbourhood in South Mumbai. He schooled from Antonio D'Souza High School. He completed Master’s in Commerce and completed Chartered Accountant course from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 1990. The following year he started 'Mehta & Memon Associates’ with his childhood friend Chetan Mehta. But in 1992, the friends parted and Yakub started a new chartered accountancy firm - 'AR & Sons’ and became very successful. He even received "Best Chartered Accountant of the Year" award from the Memon community of Mumbai, the community to which he belong to. Very soon he established a meat exporting company which had relationship with Gulf countries.
On 12 March 1993, the unfortunate Bombay bombing happened, that killed hundreds of people. A car exploded in the basement of the Mumbai Stock Exchange building at 1.30 pm, followed by similar bomb blasts at Mandvi Branch Corporation Bank near Masjid and 11 more places. Many hotels, Air India building, banks and markets were targeted and bombs were placed in cars and scooters. A double decker bus was also bombed and Fishermen's Colony, apparently targeting Hindus. According to Indian authorities, Memon financially assisted Dawood Ibrahim and his elder brother to handle the blasts, and trained 15 youths for this operation. He was also involved in the planning and execution of the operation.
Memon was arrested at New Delhi railway station on 5 August 1994, and in the trials he was found guilty on 27 July 2007. He was sentenced to death for conspiracy through financing the attacks. Though Memon filed an appeal before the Supreme Court of India under Section 19 of the TADA Act, he Supreme Court confirmed Memon's conviction and death sentence on 21 March 2013. He was held at Yerwada Central Jail, and later transferred to Nagpur Central Jail in 2007. He earned two Master’s degrees during this period. His execution earned nationwide attention and set off a debate on the death penalty in India. He was executed by hanging in Nagpur Central Jail at around 6:30 am on 30 July 2015. Bollywood movie – Black Friday directed by Anurag Kashyap and Babu Janardhanan's Malayalam film Mumbai March 12 are based on the bomb blasts.
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Updated: January 19, 2016
