Hyderabad, April 9 -- The Telangana high court on Tuesday upheld the death penalty awarded by a trial court to five operatives of banned terror outfit, Indian Mujahideen, in connection with the 2013 twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad that claimed 18 lives and left scores injured.

A bench of justices K Lakshman and P Sree Sudha delivered the judgment after exhaustive hearing on the criminal revision appeals made by the accused challenging the December 13, 2016 verdict of a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court. The bench upheld the special court's order, describing it as a fit case for capital punishment.

The court dismissed the appeals filed by the five convicts -IM co-founder Mohammed Ahmed Sidibapa alias Yasin Bhatkal, Pakistan...