Mecca Masjid blast verdict: Owaisi calls NIA blind, deaf; top developments

Following the Mecca Masjid blast case verdict, Asaduddin Owaisi lashed out at the NIA over the acquittal of the five accused and assured to provide legal help to the family of the victims

The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana High Court on Thursday rejected the resignation tendered by special National Investigation Agency (NIA) judge Ravinder Reddy, who delivered the Mecca Masjid blast case verdict. Judge Reddy has been asked to attend to his duties immediately. The NIA court of Reddy had on Monday acquitted all the five Hindu activists accused in the decade-old bomb blast that killed nine worshippers at Hyderabad's historic Mecca Masjid. The accused included Nabakumar Sarkar alias Swamy Aseemanand. Within hours, Reddy, who ordered the acquittals, resigned, citing "personal reasons". 

Meanwhile, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi lashed out at the NIA over the acquittal of the five accused in the Mecca blast case. Addressing a rally in Hyderabad, Owaisi said that the investigation agency had turned deaf and blind. Further, he assured to provide legal help to the family of the victims.

Accusing the Congress party of indulging in vote bank politics, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday asked Rahul Gandhi to apologise to Hindus for labelling them as terrorists. "In pursuit of vote bank politics, the Congress popularised 'Hindu Terror' and tried to implicate some Hindu activists in the Meccas Masjid blast case in Hyderabad over a decade ago, though a NIA court acquitted them," said Shah at an event in Bengaluru. 

While the politicians duked it out over the verdict, following the exoneration of the accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case, the family of one of the deceased demanded justice. Rehana Begum, the younger sister of deceased Saleem, said that her brother had died in the police firing that ensued after the blast took place and held those who planned and executed the blast responsible for his demise. 

The blast, which took place on May 18, 2007, during Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid of Hyderabad, killing nine people and leaving 58 injured, was allegedly carried out by a group of right-wing terrorists.  

Here are the top 10 developments around the Mecca Masjid blast case verdict, the subsequent resignation of the judge who pronounced the verdict, and the rejection of the resignation:

1) Special judge who quit after acquitting Aseemanand resumes duty: Special judge for NIA cases Ravinder Reddy, who had resigned after acquitting right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand and five others in the Mecca Masjid blast case on Monday, resumed duty today. Barely hours after the judgement on April 16, Reddy had tendered his resignation. Reddy, the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, had put in his papers to the Metropolitan Sessions Judge citing "personal reasons" for his decision and also applied for leave.

"His application for resignation is still pending. He has joined duty and is attending the bench," a source in the judiciary told PTI on condition of anonymity.

2) Resignation of judge who delivered Mecca Masjid blast verdict rejected: The High Court of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana today rejected the resignation filed by special NIA judge Ravinder Reddy, who delivered the Mecca Masjid Blast verdict. According to sources, Reddy has been asked to attend to his duties immediately. 

On Monday, a special NIA court at Nampally had acquitted all the five accused in the case due to lack of evidence. Hours after the verdict was pronounced, Reddy had tendered his resignation. 

3) Owaisi calls NIA blind and deaf after the Mecca Masjid blast verdict: After the acquittal of the five accused in Mecca blast case, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi lashed out at the NIA, saying that the investigative agency has turned deaf and blind. He assured the families of the victims that he would provide them help in appealing against the verdict. "If the family of any victim wants to appeal against the verdict, then I am ready to provide them legal help. People call NIA a caged parrot, but I will say that it is blind and deaf also," Owaisi said.

Read our previous copy on top developments arounf the Mecca Masjid blast case verdict here: Mecca verdict: Judge's resignation casts doubt over acquittal; top updates   

4) Shah connects Mecca Masjid blast verdict to Karnataka polls: The BJP decided to capitalise on the Mecca Masjid blast case verdict. Party president Amit Shah on Wednesday accused the Congress of indulging in vote bank politics and asked Rahul Gandhi to apologise to Hindus for labelling them as terrorists. "In pursuit of vote bank politics, the Congress popularised 'Hindu Terror' and tried to implicate some Hindu activists in the Meccas Masjid blast case in Hyderabad over a decade ago, though a NIA court acquitted them," said Shah at an event in Bengaluru. "The Congress also tried to substantiate its charge by foisting false cases against Hindus and pressurising investigating agencies to implicate them in the blast case. Congress leaders, including P Chidambaram, Sushil Kumar Shinde, and Digvijay Singh, carried out 'Hindu Terror' campaign and tried to defame Hindus within and outside the country to appease a section of society," recalled Shah.

The BJP chief said that with the acquittals in Mecca Masjid blast case verdict exposing the Congress leaders, if they don't apologies even now, the people would punish them. "The people of Karnataka are waiting to punish the Congress in the May 12 state Assembly elections," added Shah.

5) Family of victim demands justice: Following the acquittals of the five accused in the Mecca Masjid blast case, the family of one of the deceased has demanded justice. Rehana Begum, who is the younger sister of deceased Saleem, told news agencies that her brother had died in the police firing that ensued after the blast. "This all happened due to some those who planned and executed the blast. Now court has acquitted all of them, then who are the real accused persons who done this? We have lost a person in our family who took care of us," said Begum, adding, "The accused should be arrested. We demand justice."  

6) All five accused in Mecca Masjid blast case acquitted: A decade after a bomb blast killed nine worshippers at the historic Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad, a NIA court on Monday acquitted all the five accused Hindu activists who stood trial. Out of a total of 10 accused named in the case, only five faced trial, as one died while the others are still absconding. 

Right-wing Hindu activists Nabakumar Sarkar (alias Swamy Aseemanand), Devender Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar (alias Bharat Bhai), and Rajender Chowdhary, against whom the charges were framed, were all acquitted.

7) Mecca Masjid blast accused let off for lack of evidence: A lawyer for one of the accused told reporters outside the court complex that the National Investigation Agency court held that none of the charges framed against the accused, including Swamy Aseemanand, had been proved and let them off for lack of evidence provided.  

8) Swami Aseemanand not out of troubled waters yet: Swami Aseemanand, although cleared in the Mecca blast case, also faces trial in the 2007 Samjhauta Express train blast case. He was earlier acquitted in the Ajmer Dargah blast case. A resident of Gujarat and the head of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, Aseemanand was formerly associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. 

10) What happened in 2007? On May 18, 2007, during the Friday prayers, an improvised explosive device exploded in Mecca Masjid killing nine people and injuring 58 others. Five others died during the police shooting in the riots that followed.

The investigation that followed: There were a total of 10 accused in the case and five of them were charge-sheeted by the NIA. One, Sunil Joshi, an RSS pracharak, was murdered during the course of the investigation. Three accused, Sandeep V Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra, both RSS activists, and Amit Chowhan, are absconding while Tejram Parmar is on bail.

A total of three charge sheets were filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the NIA in the sensational case. Over 200 witnesses were examined and 400 documents were submitted to the court. 

The city police, which initially took up investigations, blamed Bangaldeshi terror outfit Harkatul Jihad Islami and rounded up about 100 Muslim youth. All those arrested and jailed were acquitted in 2008 and the subsequent investigations by the CBI in 2010 revealed that the blast was the handiwork of Hindu rightwing group Abhinav Bharat. The case was handed over to NIA on April 4, 2011.  

With agency inputs