Verdict in 2007 Hyderabad twin bomb blasts on Sep 4

A court will deliver on September 4 judgement in the 2007 Hyderabad twin bomb blasts which had claimed 42 lives.

The Second Metropolitan Sessions Court will deliver the judgement, a lawyer told reporters outside the Nampally Criminal Court complex on Monday.

All four accused were produced before the court through video conferencing from Cherlapalli Central Prison on the city's outskirts where they are lodged.

The judge conducted the final hearing on Monday.

The near simultaneous bomb blasts at Gokul Chat, a popular eatery, and at Lumbini Park, near the State Secretariat, claimed 42 lives and injured over 50 on August 25, 2007. An unexploded bomb was also recovered under a foot-over bridge at Dilsukhnagar.

The alleged Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives -- Mohammed Sadiq Ahmed Sheikh, Anique Shafiq Syed, Mohammed Sadiq, Akbar Ismail Choudhary and Ansar Ahmed Badhsah Sheikh -- are lodged in the Cherlapalli prison.

The trial against them was shifted to a court hall located in the premises of the prison in June 2018 on security grounds.

The accused were arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in October 2008. Three other accused including IM Chief Riyaz Bhatkal and his brother Iqbal Bhatkal still remain at large.

The case was initially investigated by the Andhra Pradesh Police and following bifurcation of the state it was handed over to the Counter Intelligence wing of Telangana Police.

Three chargesheets were filed against the accused. In 2014, the court framed charges against them. They were charged with murder and other offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Explosive Substances Act.

--IANS

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