Yasin Bhatkal, one of the founders of the proscribed terror outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) has been sentenced to death along with four others for the twin blasts in Hyderabad’s Dilsukhnagar in 2013.
This is for the first time that top leaders of the Indian Mujahideen, including Bhatkal, have been found guilty of a terror attack since the group was banned as a terror group in 2010.
Who are the accused in 2013 Hyderabad blasts?
Yasin Bhatkal alias Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, Pakistani national Zia ur Rehman alias Waqas and Ajaz Shaikh.
Apart from Hyderabad blasts case, Yasin is also alleged to have been a part of the German Bakery bomb blast that happened in Pune on 13 February 2010 that left 17 dead.
Though five people have been convicted in the case, there are six accused in it. Main accused Riyaz Bhatkal alias Shah Riyaz Ahmad Mohammed Ismail Shahbandari is absconding.
What is Indian Mujahideen?
IM is a terrorist group formed in 2010. It was declared a terrorist organisation and banned by the Government of India in June 2010.
In 2010, New Zealand declared it a terrorist organisation and in 2011, the United States officially placed the IM on its list of foreign terrorist organisations. The group was also banned in the United Kingdom as it aimed at creating an Islamic State and implementing Sharia law in India, by use of indiscriminate violence.
Here’s what you need to know about the 2013 Hyderabad blasts:
- The blasts claimed 17 lives and at least 119 people were left injured.
- On 21 February 2013, two blasts rocked the city of Hyderabad. The bombs exploded in Dilsukhnagar, within 100 metres of each other.
- The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which probed the case, concluded that the blasts were engineered by the Indian Mujahideen operatives.
- During the trial, the NIA had produced 158 witnesses, seized 201 pieces of material evidence and furnished over 500 documents in the court.
