Five, including Indian Mujahideen leader Yasin Bhatkal, convicted in Hyderabad twin bomb blasts case

HYDERABAD: Five Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists, including cofounder Yasin Bhatkal, accused of orchestrating the 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin blasts, were awarded a death sentence by a special court of the National Investing Agency (NIA) here on Monday. This is said to be the first conviction of IM members by an Indian court.

The other accused include Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi (of Uttar Pradesh), Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu (Maharashtra), Zia ur Rehman alias Waqas, a Pakistani national, and Aijaz Shaikh, while the outfit’s other co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal, the prime accused in the case, is suspected to be taking shelter in Pakistan.

The court had convicted all five IM operatives on December 15 and reserved the judgement on quantum of punishment for December 19. They were tried under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosives Substances Act and relevant sections of Indian Penal Code.

While the judgement was being pronounced, only the prosecution, the defence lawyer and some NIA officials were allowed inside. The proceedings took place at the Cherlapalli Central Jail as during an earlier trial, Bhatkal threw pieces of paper while being taken from Cherlapalli jail to the court at Nampally raising security issues.

The police had made heavy bandobust outside the Cherlapally Central Jail and deployed additional forces in sensitive areas of the city. During the trial, three of the five convicts tried giving a last minute dramatic twist by submitting letters to the judge complaining that the trial had not taken place as per the law and SC verdicts earlier.

However, the court went ahead with its judgement of conviction terming it the rarest of rare cases. Public prosecutor Surender said that when the judge asked, the five accused are learnt to have conveyed that any punishment would be okay for them.