HYDERABAD: Verdict in Dilsukhnagar twin blasts would be pronounced by the special court for National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases on Tuesday. The verdict will be heard at the special court set up at Cherlapally Central Prison.
On February 21, 2013, within a span of 10 seconds, two bombs exploded 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 explosions.
The case was initially booked by Saroornagar police and was later transferred to the NIA, which booked a case under Sections 302, 307, 324, 326, 124 A, 153 A and 120B of the IPC, Sections 3 & 5 of The Explosives Substances Act and Sections 16, 18 & 20 of The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
During investigation, NIA arrested the accused Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi (A2) and Mohammed Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal (A5) from Raxaul in Bihar on August 29, 2013. Following this, accused Zia ur Rahman alias Waqas alias Nabeel Ahmed (A3) and Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu alias Sameer (A4) were arrested on March 25, 2014. Later, Ajaz Shaikh alias Samar Armaan Tunde alias Sagar alias Aizaz Saeed (A6) was arrested on September 5, 2014.
However, the prime accused and key conspirator in the case, Riyaz Bhatkal alias Mohammed Ismail Shahbandari, elder brother of Yasin Bhatkal is still at large.
NIA, in its chargesheet, mentioned that the accused received financial assistance from ISI, backed by Pakistan, which is also providing shelter to several absconding senior operatives of the Indian Mujahideen (IM).
The NIA has produced 158 witnesses in the court. It submitted 201 pieces of material evidence that were seized from the blast site and also from the accused, and furnished over 500 incriminating documents.