A special court of the National Investigation Agency in Hyderabad on Monday sentenced to death five members of the Indian Mujahideen, including the group’s co-founder Yasin Bhatkal, in connection with the 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin blasts case. This is the first time that members of the militant group have been convicted and awarded a sentence by an Indian court, according to PTI.
The court had found Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman, Asadullah Akhtar, Tahaseen Akhtar and Aijaz Sheikh guilty in the case on December 13. The quantum of punishment for the sixth convict in the case, absconding IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal, has not been pronounced, though the charges were framed against him, as well.
The convicts were tried under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosives Substances Act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. In its chargesheets, the NIA had said that the Mujahideen members had received financial help from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. The agency had produced 158 witnesses and submitted 201 pieces of evidence seized from the site of the blasts, in addition to handing over more than 500 incriminating documents to the court.
On February 21, 2013, two bomb explosions in Hyderabad’s Dilsukhnagar neighbourhood had killed 18 people and injured 131 others. While the first blast took place at a bus stop, the second was in a shopping arena.
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