IM cadres convicted for 2013 Dilsukhnagar blasts by NIA court

In the first ever conviction of banned Indian Mujahideen cadres in a terror case, a special NIA court here convicted Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa alias Yasin Bhatkal and four others for being involved in 2013 twin blasts at Dilsukhnagar which had claimed 18 lives.
The NIA special court convicted Bhatkal and others under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Besides Bhatkal, the others convicted were Asadullah Akthar of Uttar Pradesh, Zia-ur-Rahman alias Waqas of Pakistan, Tahseen Akhthar of Bihar and Aizaz Shaik of Maharashtra. All of them are in judicial custody.
The alleged key conspirator Riyaz Bhatkal, believed to be operating from Karachi, is still at large.

The court will announce the sentences for all the accused on December 19.
The final arguments in the case concerning the attack, carried out on February 21, 2013 in which 18 people were killed and 131 injured others, concluded last month during which 157 witnesses were examined. Trial in the case had begun on August 24 last year.

An elated Director General of NIA Sharad Kumar said "it was a wonderful investigation carried out by the team in which every evidence was examined minutely. This is the first ever conviction of Indian Mujahideen cadres."
"We will be appealing for maximum punishment for the culprits," Kumar said.

In its charge sheet, the NIA had claimed that Indian Mujahideen had hatched a conspiracy to wage a war against India and decided to carry out bomb blasts in Hyderabad to create terror in the minds of people and further the activities of the outfit.
After receiving the materials sent by Riyaz through an
unknown person, and the money sent by him by way of hawala and other channels, Asadullah Akhtar and Waqas reached Hyderabad and started working with Tahseen Akhthar alias Monu, who had already reached there and was living in a hideout in Abdullapurmet area, the NIA probe report claimed.

The three of them prepared two IEDs while staying there. The other materials needed to make the bomb, including a pressure cooker and timers, were arranged in Hyderabad. After the bomb was made, on February 21, they mounted two IEDs on two bicycles (purchased by them for that purpose), and planted them in two separate places in Dilsukhnagar, it alleged.
The NIA investigation has brought to evidence all the financial help received by the accused from abroad.
The NIA also said it learnt that the miscreants, after procuring the explosive materials to Hyderabad, had conducted a test blast in a hillock near Abdullapurmet in Hyderabad.

The main feature of the conspiracy was that the accused were communicating through the Internet, chatting with each other throughout the planning, finding suitable hideouts, purchasing materials for the bombs, until the final escape. They were also found to have used proxy servers to hide their identity.
The role of Yasin Bhatkal in the planning, procurement of explosives and harbouring of Asadullah Akhthar after the incident, was also unearthed by the NIA, the agency said.
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"The court will decide on Monday (December 19) what punishment is to be inflicted on this crime. Anyway, we will be seeking for maximum punishment that is prescribed for murder and waging war against India, that is death sentence," Special Public Prosecutor Surender told reporters outside Charlapally Central Prison here where the court is located.

"In the Dilsukhnagar blasts case, all five accused who have been tried here, they have been convicted for various offences under the IPC, Unlawful Activities Act.
"This is for committing murder, attempt to murder, criminally conspiring to wage war against the Government of India and committing a terrorist act and at the same time collecting arms for the purpose of committing this terrorist act," he said.
The court has posted the case to December 19 to decide the quantum of sentence to be handed out to them, he said.
"Now, that they have been found guilty, the court has posted the case to 19th (December). On 19th, the court will hear about the quantum of sentence to be imposed," he said.

As the prime accused in the case and key founding member of Indian Mujahideen Mohammad Riyaz alias Riyaz Bhatkal was absconding, the trial was split.
"During course of investigation, the role of key founding member of IM, Mohammad Riyaz alias Riyaz Bhatkal, hailing from Bhatkal, Karnataka, now suspected to be hiding in Pakistan, was established, as the key planning and guiding force behind the blasts and he was arraigned as an accused in the crime," the NIA said in a release.
"He is absconding and NIA has issued a Interpol Red Corner Notice for his arrest," it further said.