MAY 29: The National Investigative Agency (NIA) is not going to appeal against the trial court judgment acquitting Swami Assemanand in the Mecca Masjid blast case from 2007, according to media reports.
Last month, all five people accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case were acquitted by the special court due to lack of direct evidence. NIA had then said that it will examine the court judgment after it gets a copy of the same, and decide further course of action.
Nine persons were killed and 58 were injured in the blast during Friday prayers at the historic mosque in Hyderabad on 18 May, 2007. Five persons were killed in subsequent police firing near the mosque as protests broke out after the blast. The case, that has been linked with the 2007 Ajmer Sharif Dargah blast, 2008 Malegaon blasts, and the Samjhauta Express attack, has seen many twists and turns in the course of investigation in the last 10 years — from witnesses turning hostile to the lack of evidence.
Ten persons allegedly belonging to right-wing organisations were named as accused in the case. However, only five of them — Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Swami Aseemanand alias Naba Kumar Sarkar, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajendra Chowdhary — were arrested and faced trial in the case. Two other accused — Sandeep V Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra — are absconding, while another accused Sunil Joshi died. Investigations were on against two other accused.
