Indian Mujahideen (IM) co-founder Yasin Bhatkal and four others have been sentenced to death by a special NIA court in the Dilsukhnagar blasts case that claimed the lives of 18 people and injured 131 others on February 21, 2013, in Hyderabad.
All five had been convicted in the 2013 Hyderabad blasts case by the special court on December 13 this year under different Sections of the Indian Penal Code and some Special Acts. Besides Bhatkal, the other four accused are — Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahaseen Akhtar alias Monu and Aijaz Sheikh. They are currently lodged in the Cherlapally Prison.
The NIA had arrested Bhatkal from near the India-Nepal border in August 2013.
IM co-founder Riyaz Bhatkal is still ansconding and is believed to be residing in Pakistan. The terrorist group was banned in 2010.
NIA claimed in the chargesheet that the terror outfit had conspired to wage a war against India.
"It's the first time that IM cadres have been convicted. They had plans to strike all over India," NIA Chief Sharad Kumar told NDTV.
Twin explosions near Konark and Venkatadiri theatres in Dilsukhnagar, the largest commercial and residential centre in Hyderabad, claimed the lives of 18 people and injured 131 others on February 21, 2013.
The five terrorists allegedly carried out a test blast on a hill situated on the outskirts of Hyderabad and also used proxy servers for long internet chats to plan the attack in Dilsukhnagar — the heart of the city. More than 150 witnesses were examined during the trial that began in 2015.
