In the first ever conviction of banned Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists in a terror case, a special NIA court here convicted Mohammed Ahmed Siddibappa, alias Yasin Bhatkal, and four others for being involved in 2013 twin blasts at Dilsukhnagar, which had claimed 18 lives.
The judge will announce the quantum of punishment on December 19. Five of the six accused, including Bhatkal, were produced before the judge amid heavy security Tuesday morning. While the five accused were arrested and chargesheeted by the NIA, the alleged brains behind the blast and the top leader of the shadowy terror outfit Riyaz Bhatkal is absconding.
The other convicts include Tahseen Akhtar, Asadullah Akhtar, Ziaurrahman, alias Waqas, and Aijaz Shakeel. Waqas is a Pakistani citizen, Asadullah hails from Uttar Pradesh, Tahseen is from Bihar and Shakeel hails from Maharashtra. Yaseen and absconding Riyaz belong to Karnataka.