Five members of the Indian Mujahideen, a banned terror outfit, were convicted in the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts case of 2013 here on Tuesday.
The associates of the first accused, Mohammed Riyaz alias Riyaz Bhatkal — Asadullah Akthar alias Haddi, Zia Ur Rahman alias Waqas, Mohammed Tahseen Akthar alias Hassan, Ahmed Siddibappa Zarrar alias Yasin Bhatkal and Ajaz Shaikh — were held guilty.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court operating from the Charlapally central prison here convicted the quintet under different Sections of the Indian Penal Code and some Special Acts.
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The quantum of punishment would be announced on Monday.
The first accused, Mohammed Riyaz, is at large.
IM members detonated two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) on February 21, 2013 almost simultaneously near the bustling Dilsukhnagar bus stop killing 21 people, and injuring 107.
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The first IED blew up around 7 p.m. near 107 bus-stop. Even as horrified people ran helter skelter in the chaos that followed, another bomb went off near A1 Mirchi centre, a stone’s throw away.
The first blast was under Malakpet police station area of Hyderabad Commissionerate and the second in Saroornagar police station of Cyberabad (now Rachakonda) Commissionerate. Two separate cases were registered.
Investigators were clueless initially, and the case of twin bombings was transferred to the NIA. The first important lead came in the form of video footage recorded by a traffic surveillance camera and a private camera in a shop.
One member of the group was seen coming to the bus stop on a bicycle with a tiffin box on the carrier, and investigators continued to identify operatives who planted bombs in similar fashion at public places.
Meanwhile, intelligence agencies caught Ahmed Siddibappa Zarrar and Asadullah Akthar at the India-Nepal border in August 2013.
The duo reportedly admitted to interrogators that they were responsible for the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts, and were complicit in other terror cases.