Defence in 2011 blasts case seeks to bring Yasin Bhatkal to Mumbai

MUMBAI: A day after a Hyderabad court awarded capital punishment to terror organisation Indian Mujahideen's co-founder Yasin Bhatkal in a blasts case, a defence lawyer in another terror attack case today demanded that he be brought to Mumbai for trial.

"We prayed to the court to take his custody so that trial can be started," said Sharif Sheikh, a lawyer in the 2011 Mumbai triple blasts case.

Explosions at Opera House, Zaveri Bazaar and Dadar West here on July 13, 2011, had claimed 26 lives. According to police, Indian Mujahideen carried out these blasts, and Bhatkal played an important role in procuring the explosives.

Special judge V V Patil is likely to pass an order on Sheikh's plea next month, the lawyer told PTI.

Yasin and eight others are facing trial here under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Riyaz Bhatkal, Waqas Ibrahim Sad, Dubai-based Muzaffar Kolah and Tehseen Akhtar Shaikh are the wanted accused in the case.

Yesterday, the special NIA court in Hyderabad awarded death penalty to Bhatkal and four others in the case related to twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar area on February 21, 2013, in which 18 people were killed.