2007 Mecca Masjid blasts: All accused, including Swami Aseemanand
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court at Nampally in Hyderabad on Monday, citing lack of evidence, acquitted five accused, including Swami Aseemanand, in the case of the bomb attack on the Mecca Masjid 11 years ago.
The blast, using an improvised explosive device, killed nine persons inside the masjid near the historic Charminar of Old City. The others acquitted are Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharath Mohan Lal Rateshwar and Rajendra Choundary.
The NIA had originally charged 10 persons with plotting and carrying out the attack on May 18, 2007. Accused Sunil Joshi of Madhya Pradesh, a former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) pracharak, was murdered when the case was investigated. Two other accused, former RSS pracharak Sandeep V. Dange and RSS activist and electrician Ramchandra Kalsangra, also from Madhya Pradesh, have been eluding the investigators. Investigations against two others from the same State, Tejram Parmar and Amith Chowhan, are continuing.
The verdict was pronounced amidst tight security around the Nampally Courts Complex. where all the accused were present. Police restricted the movement on roads leading to the court. Vehicles were directed to be parked more than a kilometre away from the court hall. Earlier, mediapersons staged a sit-in outside the court’s gates after being restricted by police from entering the complex.
Swami Aseemanand and Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar are out on bail while three others are lodged in the central prison in Hyderabad under judicial remand. In March 2017, a court in Rajasthan had sentenced Gupta and another convict to life in jail in the Ajmer Dargah blast case.
