Two of the seven accused in the 2007 Hyderabad twin bombing case were convicted by a special court inside the Cherlapally Central Prison here on Tuesday. Forty-four persons were killed and 68 injured in the blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar on August 25, 2007.
Anik Shafique Syeed and Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chowdhari were pronounced guilty in the 11-year-old case by Judge T. Srinivas Rao of the Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Court operating from Cherlapally prison. Two other accused - Farooq Sharfuddin Tarkash and Mohammed Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik - were acquitted for lack of evidence. All the four are natives of Maharashtra.
Three other accused - Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Amir Reza Khan - are absconding and believed to be in Pakistan.
The quantum of punishment as also the judgement on Tarik Anjum, accused of harbouring the perpetrators in New Delhi and other places, will be pronounced on Monday, said Special Public Prosecutor Challa Seshu Reddy, who represented the counter-intelligence wing of the Telangana Police that probed the case. The media were not allowed inside the courtroom.
Judge Srinivas Rao convicted Sayeed and Chowdhari under Sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 307 (attempt to murder) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and other sections of the Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in three different cases.
“The prosecution proved the case against Aneeq Shafique Sayeed and Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chowdhari and they were convicted. The quantum of sentence against them will be pronounced next Monday,” Mr. Seshu Reddy told reporters after the verdict was pronounced inside a special courtroom at Cherlapalli Central Prison.
Mr Reddy said the accused had planted three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) across the city, of which two went off. One unexploded bomb placed under a foot-over-bridge at Dilsukhnagar was recovered and defused by the police.
“While Anik (Sayeed) planted a bomb in Lumbini park, Riyaz (Bhatkal) and Akbar (Chowdhari) placed the explosives at Gokul Chat and Dilsuknagar,” the prosecution said.
Though Special public prosecutor K Surender maintained that Sayeed and Akbar were operatives of Indian Mujahideen, they were not found guilty under Section 20 of UAPA (member of terrorist gang or organisation), Gandham Gurumurthy, defence counsel, said.
“Investigation agency failed to prove that they were part of any terrorist gang or a terrorist organisation, which is involved in the terrorist act,” Mr Gurumurthy said.
The prosecution has now decided to seek capital punishment for the convicts. The detailed judgement is likely to be available in 2-3 days, said Mr. Reddy.
‘Delayed verdict’
Political parties welcomed the verdict though both the BJP and Congress called for fast track courts to deal with such cases. “Justice to those killed in these blasts came many years later. These kind of terror cases need to be fast tracked and the guilty should be brought to book through quick trials,” Krishna Saagar Rao, spokesperson of BJP’s Telangana unit said.
Reacting to the verdict, victims of the blasts sought capital punishment for convicts. Chander Nayak, one of the victims who lost an eye in the blast, said he was disappointed with the acquittal of two accused and demanded that the State government appeal against the decision in the High Court.
B Anjaiah, who lost his daughter and two other close relatives, also wanted the death penalty. “It has been a nightmare for me...My daughter, who was just 14 then, and two of my close relatives lost their lives,” he said.
The four Indian Mujahideen operatives who faced trial were arrested by Maharashtra police’s AntiTerrorism Squad in October 2008. Deven Bharti, Addl. CP (Crime), Mumbai wrote to Hyderabad Commissioner of Police stating that the four accused arrested by Maharashtra police had revealed their involvement in the Hyderabad blasts in Hyderabad in 2007 and asked the city police to follow up.
In February 2009, the then DSP of the Organisation for Counter Terrorist Operations (OCTOPUS), V.N.V. Satyanarayana, approached Mumbai police and brought the accused to city. They were taken into police custody and interrogated.
The case was later transferred to the Counter Intelligence Cell of State police who had filed three separate charge-sheets against the accused. The acquitted persons are involved in other cases in Pune and Mumbai, Mr Reddy said.
The trial in the case started in October 2016. Over 160 witnesses were examined. August 25 was the 11th anniversary of twin blasts.
Mr Gurumurthy said the defence would appeal in the higher court, once the quantum of sentence announced.
Anik, Akbar, Farooq and Sadiq are from Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted that “Farooq & Sadiq have been in prison from 2009 & after 9 years Court finds them NOT GUILTY acquits them & their Lawyer ABDUL Azeem tells me evidence was circumstantial & eyewitnesses who where found after 1 yr of offence No closure/Justice for victims families Pain continues.”