BREAKING NEWS: All accused in 2007 Makkah Masjid blast acquitted

AMN / HYDERABAD

All accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast that left nine people dead and many injured have been acquitted by a special NIA court here today.  The court said the country’s top anti-terror body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had failed to prove anyone’s guilt.

All five key accused including Aseemanand, Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharatbhai, Rajender Chowdhary are acquitted by the Namapally Court due to lack of evidence.

The blast at the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007 during Friday prayers had also left 58 others injured.

The NIA took over the case from the CBI in 2011.

The bomb blast took place at the Makkah Masjid which is adjacent to the historic Charminar in the Old City during Friday prayers was allegedly carried out by a group of right-wing group.

The NIA took over the case from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2011, in which ten persons allegedly belonging to right-wing organisations were named as accused.

However, only five of them were arrested and faced trial in the case. The accused arrested are – Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Swami Aseemanand, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar and Rajendra Chowdhary.

Two other accused- Sandeep V Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra- are absconding, while one of the accused, Sunil Joshi of Madhya Pradesh, was murdered while the case was being investigated.