Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Tuesday, April 8, dismissed the criminal appeal filed by five individuals sentenced to death in the 2013 Dilsukhnagar bomb blast case.
The convicted men had appealed the decision, challenging the evidence and sentencing. However, the High Court, after thorough arguments from both prosecution and defense, ruled in favor of the NIA court’s findings, emphasizing the severity of the act and the credibility of the evidence.
The judgment was delivered nearly eight years after a special NIA court sentenced the perpetrators of the attack that killed 18 people and injured 131 others.
Case background
The five convicts facing execution are Yasin Bhatkal, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tehseen Akhtar, Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas and Aizaz Shaikh.
A special NIA court had delivered the death sentences on December 16, 2016, after convicting them under stringent anti-terror laws.
Justice K Lakshman heard two critical petition,s namely the mandatory death sentence confirmation hearing and the appeal by convicts challenging their convictions.
Dilsukhnagar blasts case
The twin blasts on February 21, 2013, targeted Hyderabad’s bustling Dilsukhnagar area during evening rush hour.
The first explosion ripped through a bus stop near Konark Theater. Later, another blast occurred at A1 Mirchi Center. Among the victims was a pregnant woman whose unborn child also perished.
The NIA’s meticulous investigation led to the arrest of Bhatkal and Akhtar near the Nepal border in August 2013.
In March 2014, Tehseen and Waqas were arrested in Rajasthan. Subsequently, Aizaz Shaikh was arrested in Pune.
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