Gujarat High Court upholds death for two Hyderabad twin blasts convicts

The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, upheld the death sentences of Indian Mujahideen operatives Mohammed Akbar Ismail Chaudhary and Aneeq Shafique Sayeed. The two convicts were previously sentenced to death by a local court in Hyderabad for their roles in the devastating August 2007 twin bomb blasts at Gokul Chat Bhandar and Lumbini Park.

Chaudhary and Sayeed, alongside 47 other convicted individuals, had filed legal appeals challenging a 2022 verdict delivered by a special court. In that 2022 ruling, the special court had handed down the death penalty to 38 of the 49 convicts under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code. The remaining 11 individuals convicted in the case were sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of their lives.

The two operatives were originally arrested by the then united Andhra Pradesh Police, along with two other accused individuals, following the twin explosions that shook Hyderabad in August 2007. The blasts, which targeted the popular Gokul Chat Bhandar eatery and the open-air Lumbini Park, claimed the lives of 42 people and left 54 others injured.

Following the conclusion of their trial for the Hyderabad twin blasts, a city court sentenced both Chaudhary and Sayeed to death. After this sentencing, the two men were transferred to Gujarat to stand trial for their involvement in the separate Ahmedabad serial blasts case.

The Ahmedabad court also found them guilty and awarded them the death penalty. The convicts subsequently challenged this decision before the Gujarat High Court. With the High Court's ruling on Tuesday, the death sentences for both operatives in the Ahmedabad case have been officially upheld.