Hyderabad twin blasts case: 2 Indian Mujahideen operatives convicted

Two operatives of banned terror outfit Indian Mujahideen have been convicted by a court for the 2007 Hyderabad twin blasts that claimed 44 lives. Two other accused were acquitted while the fate of a fifth accused will be decided next week.

Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge T Srinivas Rao acquitted two others. Farooq Sharfuddin Tarkash and Mohammed Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik were acquitted for lack of evidence. The quantum of sentence for the convicted Indian Mujahideen operatives, Aneeq Shafique Sayeed and Mohammed Akbar Ismail, will be announced on September 10.

The court is also expected to pronounce its judgement on Tarik Anjum, charged with giving shelter to the accused after the blasts, on September 10.

The Counter Intelligence wing of the Telangana Police had investigated the case and arrested the five accused. The agency had filed four charge sheets against them and also named three other absconding accused -- Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Amir Reza Khan.

They were booked in connection with the blasts on August 25, 2007, and the recovery of an unexploded bomb in the Dilsukhnagar area.

The trial in the case started in October 2016 and was shifted to a court hall located on the premises of the Cherlapalli Central Prison in June 2018.

According to the prosecution, Aneeq Shafique Sayeed planted the bomb at Lumbini Park, and Bhatkal planted the bomb at Gokul Chat.

The near simultaneous blasts at Gokul Chat, a popular eatery, killed 32 people and left 47 injured. 12 others died and 21 were injured at the open air theatre at Lumbini Park, a few metres away from the state Secretariat.

The IM men are among those arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in October 2008. They were later taken into custody by the Gujarat Police.

Around 170 witnesses were examined during the trial, and the final arguments were completed in August.