A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court today convicted two people and acquitted two others in the 2007 Hyderabad blasts that had killed 44 people.
The court has convicted two Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives Mohammad Akbar Ismail Chowdhari and Aneeq Shafique Sayeed in relation to 2007 twin blasts in Hyderabad. The court will announce the sentence for the two accused on Monday. Two others Farooq Sharfuddin Tarkash and Mohammed Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik have been acquitted by the NIA court.
2007 Hyderabad Twin Blasts case: Judgement on one more accused to be pronounced on Monday. All five accused are lodged in Charlapalli Jail and two people are absconding. https://t.co/0bXr98qCdW
— ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2018
The simultaneous blasts at the popular eatery Gokul Chat had killed 32 people and 47 people had sustained injuries. Twelve others were killed and 21 were injured in another blast at an open-air theatre at Lumbini Park, a few meters away from the state secretariat. The police had found another as many as 19 unexploded bombs in another location in the city after the blasts.
The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in October 2008 had arrested five accused, who were allegedly Indian Mujahideen operatives. They were charged under section 302 (murder) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and sections of Explosive Substances Act in the twin blasts.
The Central intelligence wing of Telangana had filed charge-sheets against the accused and also had named three others who are absconding, Indian Mujahideen founder Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Amir Reza Khan. According to the prosecution Aneeq Shafique Sayeed, Riyaz Bhatkal and Ismail Chowdhari planted bombs.
Earlier, the judgment was to be delivered on August 27, but Judge T Srinivas Rao postponed it to September 4. All the five accused were produced before the court on August 27 through video conferencing from Cherlapalli Central Prison due to the security reasons.