Hyderabad: Eleven years after the twin blasts in Hyderabad that claimed 44 lives and left over 68 persons injured, a special court convicted two persons in the case. Two others were acquitted for lack of evidence. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on September 10. A total of seven persons were accused in the three cases — the blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar, and the unexploded bomb found at Dilsukhnagar. The judgment in another case pertaining to giving shelter to the prime accused Riyaz Bhatkal and Iqbal Bhatkal, in which Mohammed Tareeq Anjum Ahsan is an accused, will be delivered on Monday.
The court convicted Akbar Ismail Choudhary and Aneeq Shafeeq Sayeed. They were found guilty of planting bombs at Lumbini Park and Dilsukhnagar Venkatadri theatre. Riyaz Bhatkal, who is accused of planting the bomb at Gokul Chat Bhandar is still absconding. The court acquitted Farookh Sharfuddin Tarkash and Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik for want of evidence in all three cases. Of the seven persons charged in the three cases, police arrested Farookh Sharfuddin Tarkash, Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik, Aneeq Shafeeq Sayeed, and Akbar Ismail Choudhary. Three others — Iqbal Bhaktal, Riyaz Bhaktal and Anwar — are absconding.
“The court appreciated the work of the prosecution and convicted two persons. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Monday, September 10,” K. Surender, counsel representing the investigating agency told this newspaper. “No one has been given a copy of the judgment yet; once we get it, we will go through it and take the next appropriate step,” he said. Defence counsel Shaik Saifullah Khalid said that two of the four persons charged were acquitted.
The judgment was pronounced at the Cherlapally Prison on the city's outskirts amidst tight security. The police had made elaborate security arrangements and the media was not allowed inside the jail premises since morning. At11.30 am, the public prosecutors briefed the media about the case. The judgement was originally to be delivered on August 27, but was deferred by Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge T Srinivas Rao, stating the “judgment is not ready as it is a voluminous case”. The accused were charged under Section 302 (murder) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Explosive Substances Act.
