Eleven years after the twin bombings in Hyderabad at Gokul Chat and Lumbini Park, which left 42 people dead and over 50 people injured, a local court on Tuesday pronounced two of the accused – Aneeq Shafique Sayeed and Ismail Chaudhary – guilty.
Two others – Mohammed Sadiq and Ansar Ahmed Badshah Sheikh – have been acquitted. The quantum of punishment will be pronounced on Monday, September 10.
The blasts were carried out by the banned outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). The founders of IM, Riyaz and Iqbal Bhatkal, are absconding.
More than 150 witnesses were questioned and cross-examined during the decade-long trial, the hearing for which concluded on August 7.
Since early morning on Tuesday, security was beefed up around Cherlapally Central Prison, where the accused are housed, and where the verdict was pronounced.
The verdict was delivered by Sessions Judge Srinivas Rao, who also delivered the verdict in other crucial cases like the Begumpet Task Force building bomb blast and the attack on Akbaruddin Owaisi.