Hyderabad Blasts Convict Yasin Bhatkal Moves Court

The five persons convicted in the 2013 Dilsukhnagar bomb blasts moved the Hyderabad High Court on Monday challenging the death sentence awarded to them by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Cherlapally, Hyderabad on September 19

According to reports, the accused stated that the NIA had failed to prove their links with the Indian Mujahideen (IM), the banned terror outfit, even though one of the convicts, Yasin Bhatkal, was proven as IM co-founder.

For those who came in late, nearly four years after the explosions in 2013, in a crowded shopping area in Hyderabad, which left 18 dead and 131 injured, an NIA special court on December 19, sentenced all the five to death.

Initially, the case had been registered at the Saroornagar Police Station and was later transferred to the NIA. The agency charged all the five terrorists under sections 121, 122, 201, 302, 307, 324 and 326 along with 120B of the IPC, Sections 3 & 5 of The Explosives Act and section 18, 19, 20, 38 (2), 39 (2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.

During the course of the hearing, the NIA had submitted 201 pieces of evidence and produced 158 witnesses.

Whether the High Court will accept the petition filed by the five persons remains to being seen.