The Telangana High Court will pronounce its verdict today on the confirmation of death sentences awarded to five convicts in the 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin bomb blasts case.
Hyderabad:The Telangana High Court will pronounce its verdict today on the confirmation of death sentences awarded to five convicts in the 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin bomb blasts case. On December 16, 2016, a special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sentenced Yasin Bhatkal, Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tehseen Akhtar and Aizaz Shaikh to death for their roles in the terrorist attacks that killed 18 people and injured 131 others.
Justice K. Lakshman of the High Court had heard two petitions: one seeking confirmation of the death sentence, as required by law, and a criminal appeal filed by the convicts requesting the sentences be set aside. The judge had earlier reserved the verdict, which is now listed for pronouncement.
The blasts occurred on February 21, 2013, at Dilsukhnagar market in Hyderabad. The first explosion occurred near a bus stop in the Malakpet police limits, followed by a second blast seconds later near the A-1 Mirchi Centre shop under the Saroornagar police station area in Cyberabad. Among the victims was an unborn child.
After registering FIRs, the ministry of home affairs transferred the two cases to the NIA for investigation. During the investigation, the NIA arrested two senior operatives of Indian Mujahaddin namely Ahmed Siddibappa Zaraar Alia’s Yaseen Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi from Indo-Nepal border in August 2013. In March 2014, Tehseen Akhtar and Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rehman were arrested by Delhi Police in Rajasthan. Aizaz Shaikh, from Pune, was also held for his involvement in the conspiracy.
