'Biased' NIA should've opposed Aseemanand's bail: CPI (M)

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) on Wednesday alleged that the NIA is taking a biased position on Swami Aseemanand and said that the agency should have opposed his bail in connection with the Samjhauta blasts case.

"The NIA is taking a very biased position because Aseemanand is a prime suspect, accused in the Samjhauta train blast case, which is one of the major terrorist blasts that have taken place in this country," CPI (M) leader Prakash Karat told ANI.

"Aseemanand is involved in other similar cases like Mecca Masjid as well as Malegaon blasts. So, if the NIA is serious about pursuing these cases, they should have opposed the bail and gone and appealed," he added.

The Union Home Ministry had yesterday informed the Lok Sabha that the NIA, upon examining the feasibility of filing a Special Leave Petition, found no grounds to challenge the conditional bail granted to Aseemanand by the Punjab and Haryana High Court last year in the Samjhauta blasts case.

The Samjhauta Express, a bi-weekly train between Delhi and Lahore, was bombed in February 2007 just as it passed Panipat in Haryana.

Of the nearly 70 people who were killed, most of them were Pakistanis.