Eleven years after the twin bombings that rocked Hyderabad, a special court here on Monday sentenced two convicts, Anik Shafique Syeed and Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chowdhari, to death. Another accused, Tarik Anjum, was sentenced to life imprisonment by Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge (in-charge) T. Srinivas Rao. Earlier in the day, the court convicted Tarik of providing shelter to the perpetrators of the blasts, including Indian Mujahideen chief Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal, in New Delhi.
A case of harbouring was also booked against him by the Delhi police after his arrest in 2011. On August 25, 2007, two improvised explosive devices ripped through the laserium in Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat Bhandar, a popular eatery in the busy Koti area of Hyderabad. Forty-four persons were killed and 68 injured. On September 4, the judge pronounced Anik and Akbar — close associates of Riyaz Bhatkal — guilty in the case and posted the matter to September 10. The same day, he acquitted Farooq Sharfuddin Tarkash and Mohammed Sadiq Israr Ahmed Shaik for want of evidence. However, they are involved in other cases in Pune and Mumbai. Special Public Prosecutor for Counter-Intelligence Cell K Surender said that Anik and Akbar were sentenced to death for carrying out the twin blasts.