Dilsukhnagar Residents Celebrate Blast Verdict

Hyderabad: People in the Dilsukhnagar shopping area welcomed the judgment and celebrated it by distributing sweets among themselves and to passersby.

Kothapally Pandu Reddy, A-1 Mirchi shop owner, said: “I was out of town when the blasts occurred. I tried calling my brother and cousins who work along with me, but I could not connect with them because of poor signals. I reached the shop at 1 am, and with the blessings of god, they survived with injuries.”

His brother, cousins, and a few other relatives survived but with serious injuries — one lost a finger, while the others required multiple surgeries.

“Each operation cost at least two lakhs,” Pandu Reddy said. “The government gave some help, but nowhere near enough.” His shop was destroyed. Rebuilding it took upto Rs 5 lakh. “They told me I’d get Rs 1 lakh as compensation for the damage,” he said. “It never came. I’ve been to the collector’s office more times than I can count. Nothing moves.”

His brother and cousins, shaken by the incident, left Hyderabad and never returned to stay. “They’re in Zaheerabad now, working as farmers. They come to the city once in a while, but not to live.”

“Many of the injured have not received ex-gratia, and the government should construct a memorial at the site,” said Syed Raheem, a survivor of the Gokul Chat blast of August 2007, who came to Dilsukhnagar to celebrate the verdict.

One eyewitness, Vakiti Balaraju, a cloth store owner, said "Every year on February 21, victims gather here light candles in remembrance of the day and people who lost their lives.”

“I thought it was a cylinder blast at first. The two explosions happened within five minutes of each other,” said D.Venkat Ramulu, another witness. “Few of my friends luckily got saved that day because the police had asked them to remove the stalls at the bus stop, which was where one of the bombs was placed in a bicycle,” he said.

Another person, A. Praveen Reddy, who came to rescue the victims on the day of the blast, said, “I was in Kothapet. I immediately rushed and helped police to rescue the injured people. After a long wait of many years, the court has given justice. I hope such incidents never happen again.”

Timeline of the Dilsukhnagar bomb blast incident

2013

Feb. 21

7.02 pm: First blast occurs in front of Anand tiffin centre opposite Konark Theatre, Dilsukhnagar

7.06 pm: Second blast occurs between Venkatadri theatre and Dilsukhnagar bus stop. Both sites less than 100 metres from each other.

7.15 pm: Local police and emergency services rush to the scene. The injured are transported to hospitals.

8 pm: Bomb disposal squads and forensic teams arrive and begin searching for other bombs. Security tightened.

Feb. 22: Then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh for the family members of the deceased. Singh visits blast sites, meets survivors and victims’ families.

Police release evidence, including CCTV footage of the blasts

Aug. 28: Yasin Bhatkal (alias Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa), and Asadullah Akhtar (alias Haddi) caught near Indo-Nepal border near Raxaul, Bihar by Intelligence Bureau and Bihar police. Yasin is one of the founders of Indian Mujahideen.

2014

March 14: National Investigation Agency (NIA) Hyderabad files a chargesheet against Asadullah Akhtar (A-2) and Yasin Bhatkal (A-5).

March 22: Zia-ur-Rehman (alias Waqas) was caught in New Delhi in a joint operation by Delhi police and intelligence agencies. Police say was a bomb-making expert.

March 25: Mohammed Tehseen Akhtar (alias Monu) is arrested in Darbhanga in Bihar by the NIA. He was said to be IM operational head after Yasin's arrest, linked to blasts in Patna and Bodh Gaya.

Sept. 5

Aizaz Saeed Shaik arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur by Delhi Police's special cell. Aizaz connected with bombing at Pune German Bakery, blasts at Jama Masjid and at Varanasi.

Sept. 16

NIA Hyderabad files a supplementary chargesheet against Riaz Bhatkal (A-1), Zia-ur-Rehman (A-3) and Mohammed Tehseen Akhtar (A-4). Riaz is believed to be in Pakistan.

2015

June 6: NIA Hyderabad filed a 2nd supplementary chargesheet against Aizaz Saeed Shaik (A-6).

2016

Dec. 13: NIA special court in Hyderabad finds Asadullah Akhtar, Zia-ur-Rehman, Mohammed Tehseen Akhtar, Yasin Bhatkal and Aizaz Saeed Shaik guilty of the Dilsukhnagar blass.

Dec. 19: NIA court sentences convicts to death.

2017

Jan. 2: Convicts filed appeal with the High Court.

2025

April 8: Eight years after their appeal, the High Court upheld the NIA special court's death sentence of all five convicts, dismisses their appeals. They have 90 days to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.