HYDERABAD: A special court of National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases on Monday gave capital punishment to five Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives for the 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin blasts case.
On February 21, with a difference of 10 seconds, two bombs had exploded at 6.58 PM at Dilsukhnagar. The first blast took place at a bus stop in Dilsukhnagar and the second blast occurred near A1 Mirchi Centre. As many as 18 persons died and 131 suffered injuries in the twin blasts that shook the country.
Subsequently, the police arrested Asadullah Akthar (31) of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Zia Ur Rahman (26) of Pakistan, Mohammed Tahseen Akhtar (27) of Samastipur in Bihar, Mohameed Ahmed Sidibappa (33) of Bhatkal in Karnataka and Ajaz Shaikh (29) of Pune in Maharashtra.
After completion of the trial, the special court set up for the case at Cherlapally Central Prison found the accused persons guilty in all the charges framed against them, and convicted the five accused giving the judgment on quantum of punishment.
The NIA had booked cases against the accused under sections 302, 307, 324, 326, 124 A, 153 A and 120B of IPC, and sections 3 & 5 of The Explosives Substances Act, sections 16, 18 & 20 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The NIA had produced 157 witnesses, 486 exhibits, and 173 material objects in front of the court during the trial.