Another accused convicted in Hyderabad twin blast case

Hyderabad: A court here on Monday convicted a third accused in the 2007 Hyderabad twin bomb blasts which had claimed 42 lives while the other two convicts are likely to be sentenced later in the day.

The Second Metropolitan Sessions Court held Tariq Anjum, an alleged operative of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), guilty for providing shelter to the other accused. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced later.

Two other accused, Farooq Sharfuddin and Sadiq Ahmed Sheikh, were acquitted for lack of evidence while the fate of a fifth accused will be decided next week.

The court is likely to pronounce the quantum of punishment for Anique Shafiq Syed and Akbar Ismail Choudhary, who were convicted last week.

Anique allegedly planted the bomb at Lumbini Park which claimed 10 lives while Akbar kept the bomb at Diluskhnagar but it failed to explode.

The court convicted them on September 4.

While 32 people were killed at Gokul Chat, a popular eatery, 10 others lost their lives at Lumbini Park, near State Secretariat, in near simultaneous blasts around 7.45 p.m. on August 25, 2007.

More than 50 were injured in the blasts. 

The accused were arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in October 2008. Three other accused including IM chief Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal still remain at large.