Owaisi demands NIA appeal against acquittal of Aseemanand

AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi today demanded that NIA appeal against the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and six other accused in the 2007 Ajmer blast case.
Yesterday, a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur acquitted Aseemanand and six others giving them the "benefit of doubt".
"We demand that NIA should appeal against this judgment so that Assemanand can be punished. All the culprits in this case should be punished," All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Owaisi told reporters.
He also claimed that RSS workers were also involved in this incident.
Besides Abhinav Bharat member Aseemanand, the others who were acquitted are Harshad Solanki, Chandrashekhar Leve, Mukesh Vasani, Lokesh Sharma, Mehul alias Mafat Bhai alias Maheshbhai Gohil and Bharat Mohan Lal Ratishwar.

The court convicted Devendra Gupta, Bhavesh Patel and Sunil Joshi under various sections of IPC, Explosive Substances Act and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for the bomb attack, which had left three pilgrims dead and 15 others injured.

Joshi was murdered in December, 2007.
The quantum of sentence will be announced on March 16.
Aseemanand is also an accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blasts case. 68 people were killed in the blasts in two coaches of Samjhauta Express train near Dewana railway station in Panipat on February 18, 2007.
A member of right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, Aseemanand has been in jail since December, 2010. He was also named as an accused in Hyderabad Mecca Masjid blast case.

On December 26, 2010, he was arrested by CBI from Haridwar for his alleged role in the Mecca Masjid blast in which 14 persons were killed.