Monday 16 April 2018

5, including Swami Aseemanand, acquitted in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case

5, including Swami Aseemanand, acquitted in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case
Marri Ramu APRIL 16, 2018 12:30 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 16, 2018 15:07 IST
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The spot inside the Mecca Masjid complex where the bomb blast took place 11 year ago.
The spot inside the Mecca Masjid complex where the bomb blast took place 11 year ago.   | Photo Credit: G. Ramakrishna

The NIA had originally charged 10 persons with plotting and carrying out the attack using an improvised explosive device (IED) on May 18, 2007.
A National Investigation Agency (NIA) Special Court at Nampally in Hyderabad on Monday, citing lack of evidence, acquitted five accused, including Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand, in the case of the bomb attack on the Mecca Masjid in the city 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.

5, including Swami Aseemanand, acquitted in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case

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.

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Tight security
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.


Makkah Masjid blast case: All five accused acquitted
IANS/Hyderabad
Filed on April 16, 2018


(Image via Twitter)

The explosion ripped through the mosque on May 18, 2007, killed nine people and injured more than 50.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court here on Monday acquitted all five accused in the 2007 Makkah Masjid bomb blast case.

Eleven years after the powerful explosion killed nine people and injured more than 50 during the Friday prayers near the iconic Charminar in Hyderabad, the court held that none of the charges framed against the accused were proved.

A lawyer of one of the accused told reporters outside the Nampally criminal court complex that the court held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges.

Political party members Aseemanand, Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharatbhai and Rajender Chowdhary, who were charged by the NIA, were all acquitted.


The explosion ripped through the mosque on May 18, 2007. Two live IEDs were also recovered by police and defused. Later, five more people were killed in subsequent police firing on the crowd outside the mosque.

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