HYDERABAD: Twelve years may have passed, but for those who survived the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts, the trauma still bubbles beneath the surface — a scar time hasn’t been able to erase. On Tuesday, as the Telangana High Court upheld the death penalty for five Indian Mujahideen operatives convicted in the case, survivors at Dilsukhnagar marked the moment not with silence, but with sweets — bittersweet symbols of long-awaited justice.
“It’s been more than a decade, but the terror still lingers in our hearts,” said several persons injured in the blast while speaking to TNIE.
On February 21, 2013, just as the evening crowd was swelling at the Dilsukhnagar market, two bombs ripped through the air — the first near the 107 bus stop and the second, moments later, at the A-1 Mirchi Centre. The coordinated blasts killed 18 persons and injured 131 others.
In 2016, the NIA fast-track court found five Indian Mujahideen operatives — Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar, Waqas, Mohammed Tehseen Akhtar and Ajaz Shaikh — guilty of carrying out the attacks and sentenced them to death. The convicts had challenged the verdict in the Telangana High Court, which upheld the trial court’s ruling on Tuesday after hearing arguments from both sides.
Krishnakanth Waghmari, a hawker at the Dilsukhnagar bus stop and one of the severely injured victims, recalled the horror. “I was near the 107 bus stop when the blast occurred. Two metal fragments pierced my left leg, and I lost my hearing for a few months. I was on medication for over a year. Even now, my leg pain reminds me of that terrible day,” he said.
Waghmari spent three months in the hospital and another six months recovering at home. “The government gave me Rs 1 lakh at the time of discharge, and another Rs 50,000 later. They also promised a loan of Rs 50,000, but I never received it,” he said.
“The doctors told me that there are two holes in my leg. If I walk for long, stand for extended periods, or walk in the rain, the pain becomes unbearable. I can no longer sit on the floor or use an Indian-style toilet, I need a western one,” he added.
“Right in front of my eyes, I saw at least two people die. Many others lost limbs,” Waghmari said.
Another victim, Venugopal Surivi, said his left eardrum was damaged in the blast. “It took three months to heal. I got myself treated without any government assistance. Not a single rupee was given to me,” he said.
P Srinivas, another survivor, recalled how he narrowly escaped. “I was close to the blast site, but somehow survived. It was sheer luck,” he said.
Violence has no place in democracy: Union Minister Kishan Reddy
Hyderabad: Welcoming the court’s verdict, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said, “The HC’s confirmation of the death sentence makes it clear once again that violence has no place in a democracy.” The BJP state president also said justice has finally been served for the victims who have been haunted by the terror incident for the past 12 years and added that the BJP would continue to stand by them.
Asserting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has “adopted a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism”, Kishan claimed that the BJP’s 11 years in power at the Centre have largely “remained free of major terror attacks”. He added that all political parties must remember not to “encourage appeasement politics” in a democracy. The Union minister also appreciated the police personnel who investigated the Dilsukhnagar blasts case.