Yasin Bhatkal, 4 others convicted in Dilsukhnagar blasts case

The NIA special court convicted Bhatkal and others under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Unlawful Activities Act (UAPA). 

Besides Bhatkal, the others convicted were Asadullah Akthar of Uttar Pradesh, Ziaur-Rahman alias Waqas of Pakistan, Tahseen Akhthar of Bihar and Aizaz Shaik of Maharashtra. All of them are in judicial custody. 

The alleged key conspirator Riyaz Bhatkal, believed to be operating from Karachi, is still at large. The court will announce the sentences for all the accused on Dec 19. 

The final arguments in the case concerning the attack, carried out on Feb 21, 2013 in which 18 people were killed and 131 injured others, concluded last month during which 157 witnesses were examined. Trial in the case had begun on Aug 24 last year. 

An elated Director General of NIA Sharad Kumar said “it was a wonderful investigation carried out by the team in which every evidence was examined minutely. This is the first ever conviction of Indian Mujahideen cadres.” “We will be appealing for maximum punishment for the culprits,” Kumar said. 

In its charge sheet, the NIA had claimed that Indian Mujahideen had hatched a conspiracy to wage a war against India and decided to carry out  bomb blasts in Hyderabad to create terror in the minds of people and further the activities of the outfit. 

The main operative of the module, Riyaz Bhatkal, who is named as the first accused in the case, had allegedly directed his associates Asadullah Akhtar and Waqas to find a place in Mangalore to be used as a hide-out for explosive materials sent by him, it had allaged. 

After receiving the materials sent by Riyaz through an unknown person, and the money sent by him by way of hawala and other channels, Asadullah Akhtar and Waqas reached Hyderabad and started working with Tahseen Akhthar alias Monu, who had already reached there and was living in a hideout in Abdullapurmet area, the NIA probe report claimed.