Hyderabad Twin Blasts Case: Two convicts sentenced to death, another gets life imprisonment

A special NIA court on Monday served death penalty to Aneeq Shafique Sayeed and Ismail Chaudhary - convicted in the Hyderabad twin blasts case. Another convict Tariq Anjum was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Earlier in the day, the court had found Tariq guilty of giving shelter to accused in New Delhi and several other places. Tariq was arrested in 2011 for allegedly providing shelter to the blast culprits, including Indian Mujahideen chief Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal.

On August 25, 2007, two powerful blasts at a popular dining restaurant and an open-air theatre in Hyderabad had left as many as 44 people dead and scores others injured.

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The hearing in the decade-old case was concluded on August 7 after questioning and cross-examination of over 150 witnesses. Investigation agencies said that the twin blasts in Hyderabad were carried out by the terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). Three accused, including IM founder brothers - Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal were still absconding.

Hyderabad twin blasts case: Two accused Aneeq Sayeed and Ismail Chaudhary awarded death sentence, other accused Tariq Anjum sentenced to life imprisonment by Special NIA Court pic.twitter.com/oetrGBSFK9

— ANI (@ANI) September 10, 2018

Reacting to the NIA court’s verdict, Gandam Gurumurthy, who appeared for convict Aneeq, said that they will move to the high court against the “weak judgment”. “This is a very weak judgement, we will appeal in High Court against this,” news agency ANI quoted Gurumurthy as saying.