The National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be pressing for death sentence for five members of the banned terror outfit, the Indian Mujahideen (IM), convicted by a Hyderabad court last week for planning and executing the Dilsukhnagar blasts in 2013.
NIA DG Sharad Kumar told The Hindu , “we would be seeking death penalty for all the five members of the IM, including the main convict, Yasin Bhatkal. The conviction will send a strong message to other IM members on the run.”
A Hyderabad court is expected to announce the quantum of sentence on Monday.
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On February 21, 2013, two simultaneous bomb explosions took place at Dilsukhnagar market in Hyderabad, which had killed 18 and injured 131 people. A pregnant woman was among those killed.
The case was cracked after the arrest of two senior operatives of IM, Ahmed Siddibappa Zaraar alias Yasin Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar, from the Indo-Nepal border in August 2013 by the NIA. The two bombs were planted by Akhtar and another accused, Tehseen Akhtar. In its charge sheet, the NIA said the accused received instructions from another accused, Riyaz Bhatkal, who is based in Pakistan. Both Riyaz and Yasin Bhatkal were giving instructions to the bombers through video chats.
The fifth accused, Zia ur Rehman alias Waqas, is from Pakistan and the NIA will also seek death sentence for him.
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“The IM is receiving financial and material assistance from the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), backed by the Government of Pakistan, which is also providing shelter to several absconding members of the IM in Karachi and at other places in Pakistan,” the NIA said.
The NIA said it has issued a red corner notice against Riyaz Bhatkal, the key founding member of the IM.
Video footage recorded by a traffic surveillance camera and a private camera in a shop showing one of the bombers, later identified as Tehseen Akhtar, coming to the bus stop on a bicycle with a tiffin box on the carrier, proved to be the key during investigations.
Days before the blasts, the accused had conducted a dry run at a hilltop on the outskirts of the city. The NIA said IM operatives received Rs. 1 lakh from a hawala operator on the directions of Riyaz Bhatkal in Pakistan and also through Western Union Money Transfer.