DEATH FOR 2, LIFE FOR ONE IN HYD TWIN BLASTS
The
two men found guilty of setting off the two blasts that killed 44 persons at Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park in Hyderabad in 2007 were sentenced to death on Monday last. Another convict was given life imprisonment. The second additional metropolitan sessions court in Hyderabad sentenced Mohammed Akbar Ismail Choudhary and Aneeq Shafique Sayeed to death. They were convicted on September 4, 11 years after the blasts took place.
Tariq Anjum, who was accused of harbouring the convicts in Delhi and other places before and after the blasts, was also convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
The court found that Aneeq and Ismail were guilty of the charges framed by the prosecution of conspiring to form a group and planting bombs. Tariq has been found guilty of harbouring the accused before and after the blasts. The first two were given death punishment and a penalty of ` 10,000 for each offence and Tariq was given life imprisonment.
Three other accused — Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal and Amer Reza Khan — are still at large.
The two blasts that occurred in a span of five minutes at the eatery and
the amusement park on the evening of August 27, 2007, killed 44 people and left 68 injured. According to the prosecution, the bomb planted by Aneeq at Lumbini Park exploded at 7.40 pm and the bomb planted by Ismail at Gokul Chat exploded five minutes later. Another bomb planted under the footoverbridge at Saroornagar did not explode. Aneeq and Ismail were sentenced to life imprisonment in the case of the unexploded bomb recovered at Dilsukhnagar under the foot- overbridge.
The victims and some of the family members of
those who died in the twin blasts of 2007 rejoiced following the verdict.
Speaking to this newspaper, the victims shared their happiness upon ‘ finally hearing good news’ and justice done to them after 11 long years.
Anjayya, the man who lost his 14- year- old daughter among two more family members, said, ' We are very happy that the men behind the heinous act finally got what they deserved. However, this should have been done a long time ago. We still wonder what took them so long, but we are happy with the verdict.