IM targeted Hyderabad's Dilsukhnagar due to its large Hindu population: NIA

HYDERABAD: Indian Mujahideen (IM) activists had chosen Dilsukhnagar to carry out the twin bomb blasts on this day two years ago because they concluded that the area consisted of a large Hindu population and that most of its residents including students were converging at public places in the evenings.
This was the conclusion of sleuths of the National Investigating Agency (NIA) after interrogating four of the six accused, who are in custody in the twin blasts case.While IM operative and accused number one Riyaz Bhatkal is said to be holed up in Karachi in Pakistan, Asadullah Akhtar (A2), Waqas (A3), Tehseen Akhtar (A4) and Yasin Bhatkal are in judicial custody in Cherlapalli jail in Hyderabad. Aijaz Sheikh, a Pune resident, was named as the sixth accused in the case by the NIA few weeks ago and is still lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail after being arrested by Delhi police in another case. Till date, NIA has filed two chargesheets in the twin blasts case.
According to the NIA's findings, Tehseen Akhtar, Waqas and Asadullah Akhtar, on the instructions of Riyaz Bhatkal, surveyed five locations - Malakpet, Abids, Dilsukhnagar, Begum Bazar and Koti - to detonate the bomb blasts and finally zeroed in on Dilsukhnagar. "Within two days of their recce, they decided to plant the bombs (which in IM nomenclature is called Daawati work) in Dilsukhnagar in the evening around 7 pm on February 21. They decided on Dilsukhnagar as it comprised a large Hindu population, and decided to trigger the blasts at 7 pm on February 21, 2013, as they felt that the public places there were being frequented by a large number of people including students for various activities," the sleuths deciphered.
Apparently, for some time prior to the blast, there was a difference of opinion between Riyaz and Yasin on the material to be used for the blast. Yasin, an expert bomb maker, was insisting on using picric acid for the blast while Riyaz was keen on ammonium nitrate. Finally, it was the latter substance that was used to trigger the Dilsukhnagar blasts that were planted by Tehseen Akhtar, Waqas and Asadullah Akhtar.
A month after the blasts, Riyaz Bhatkal, who was holed up in Karachi, started to make arrangements for two Indian passports for Waqas and Tehseen Akhtar through one of his contacts in Kerala so that they can travel to Pakistan via Nepal. NIA sleuths stumbled upon this after going through the conversations between Riyaz Bhatkal and Yasin Bhatkal.
In the twin bomb blasts that took place at A-1 tiffin centre and 107 bus stop in Dilsukhnagar on February 21, 2013, 17 persons and an unborn infant died.