PTI

Mumbai, Jul 28: Yakub Memon, the brother of gangster Tiger Memon who has a history of outbursts during the trial of the 1993 blasts case, on Friday July 27, created a flutter by asking god to forgive the judge who sentenced him to death.

"Oh my Lord, forgive this man (TADA court Judge P D Kode), he doesn't know what he has done. I don't want to remain in this court any longer," Yakub shouted in an anguished voice after he was given the death sentence for his role in the conspiracy behind the terror attack.

Yakub, a chartered accountant, began walking out of the courtroom packed with reporters and security personnel.

Policemen stopped Yakub and escorted him out of the court inside the high-security Arthur Road Jail as Kode continued reading out the sentences for his conviction on other counts.

As he walked to the barracks in the prison where the accused are held, Yakub said, "I have forgiven him (Kode)."

The prosecution asked the court to initiate contempt proceedings against Yakub for his outburst but the plea was not considered by the judge. "Such an act will not defame me," Kode said, telling Yakub's lawyers to ask him to behave.

Tiger Memon, who is absconding, is known to have a bad temper.

Earlier, Yakub had reacted angrily when he was convicted in the case and said he should have heeded Tiger's advice not to return to India.

The Memon family fled the country days before the March 12, 1993 blasts that killed 257 people and injured over 700.

Yakub had said Tiger's kin returned from Pakistan via Nepal and surrendered to authorities, but the CBI claimed they were arrested at the Delhi railway station in 1994.