Telangana High Court today upheld the death sentences awarded to five convicts in the 2013 Dilsukhnagar twin bomb blasts case. The court also dismissed the petitions filed by the convicts. A special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) sentenced Yasin Bhatkal, Zia-ur-Rehman alias Waqas, Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, Tehseen Akhtar and Aizaz Shaikh to death for their roles in the twin blasts in which 18 people were killed and over 130 injured. The blasts occurred on the 21st of February 21 in 2013, at Dilsukhnagar market in Hyderabad.

The first explosion occurred near a bus stop in the Malakpet police limits, followed by a second blast seconds later near the A-1 Mirchi Centre shop under the Saroornagar police station area. Among the victims was an unborn child. After registering the FIRs, the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the two cases to the NIA for investigation. During the investigation, the NIA arrested two senior operatives of Indian Mujahaddin, namely Ahmed Siddibappa Zaraar Alia’s Yaseen Bhatkal and Asadullah Akhtar alias Haddi, from the Indo-Nepal border in August 2013. In March 2014, Tehseen Akhtar and Pakistani national Zia-ur-Rehman were arrested by the Delhi Police in Rajasthan. Aizaz Shaikh, from Pune, was also held for his involvement in the conspiracy.