NIA court acquits all accused in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case

A special NIA court on Monday acquitted all accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad which left a huge toll killing nine people and injuring 58 others. The trail in the case was concluded last week and was posted for judgment today. Five right-wing whistleblowers including Swami Aseemanand have been acquitted on the base of lack of evidence.

“The judge in his order observed that not a single allegation levelled by the prosecution could be proved, and hence he declared all the accused acquitted,” said JP Sharma, the defence advocate, according to the Times of India.

Meanwhile, residents of the historic city have erupted in anger over the acquittal of the people who are accused of killing their relatives.

The historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad witnessed a massive bomb blast in May 18, 2007, on the day in which believers crowded the mosque for Friday prayers. Almost nine people lost their lives and 58 more were injured in the gruesome incident.

Five more people had been shot dead while the police tried to control an angry mob aftermath of the blast.

The case was handed over to the central bureau of investigation (CBI), which filed a charge sheet and later the national investigation agency (NIA) took over from the CBI in 2011.

Altogether, 10 persons affiliated with right-wing organizations were named as accused in the case. But only five of them, Lokesh Sharma, Swami Aseemanand Alias Naba Kumar Sarkar, Devendra Gupta, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar Alias Bharat Bhai and Rajendra Chowdhary were arrested in the case.