Hyderabad twin blasts case verdict pushed to December 13

Hyderabad: A special court on Monday adjourned to December 13 the verdict in the 2013 twin bomb blasts case.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) special court, which was expected to pronounce its judgement on Monday, deferred it.

The twin blasts in Dilsukhnagar area in Hyderabad on February 21, 2013, claimed 19 lives and injured over 130 people.

The NIA, which probed the case, concluded that the blasts were engineered by Indian Mujahideen operatives.

Out of six accused in the case, the investigating agency arrested five. Main accused Riyaz Bhatkal alias Shah Riyaz Ahmad Mohammed Ismail Shahbandari is absconding.

The five accused against whom charges were framed are Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Yasin Bhatkal alias Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa, Tahseen Akhtar alias Monu, Pakistan national Zia ur Rehman alias Waqas, and Ajaz Shaikh.

For the last one year, the trial was conducted by the special court at Cherlapally Central Prison on the city outskirts where the five accused are currently lodged.

The NIA has produced 158 witnesses, seized 201 pieces of material evidence and furnished over 500 documents before the court.

Six months after the blasts, Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar were arrested in Bihar close to the Nepal border. Three other accused were arrested subsequently and the NIA filed two charge sheets against the five accused.

The twin blasts occurred within a distance of 100 metres at crowded places in Dilsukhnagar on the evening of February 21, 2013.