All Mecca Masjid Blast Accused Acquitted by Namapally Court
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad on Monday pronounced its verdict in the sensational Mecca Masjid attack which was allegedly carried out by a group of right-wing terrorists 11 years ago on May 18, 2007.
Hyderabad, April 16: All accused in Mecca Masjid blast case have been acquitted by Namapally Court. A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad on Monday pronounced its verdict in the sensational Mecca Masjid attack which was allegedly carried out by a group of right-wing terrorists 11 years ago on May 18, 2007. The NIA Special Court at Nampally had concluded the hearing and the court took the decision due to lack of evidence provided by the NIA against the accused.
The blast which took place at the Mecca Masjid which is adjacent to the historic Charminar in the Old City during Friday prayers had left 58 injured.The judgment will decide the complicity of five of the 10 accused charge-sheeted in the case.
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. (With Agency Inputs)
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 16, 2018 01:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).