No justice in Mecca Masjid blast case, says Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that the verdict on the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case which acquitted all the five accused facing trial was "injustice" to the victims and said that the case had not been pursued properly by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

Owaisi, who is a Lok Sabha member from Hyderabad, felt that "justice hasn't been done in the case".

He alleged on a micro-blogging site that most of the witnesses in the Mecca Masjid blast case had turned hostile after June 2014 and the NIA either didn't pursue the case as was expected from it or was not allowed by its political masters to do so.

"Questions would be raised over the criminal justice system (of the country) if such biased prosecutions continue," he said, alleging that the Narendra Modi government did not even appeal against the bail given to the accused earlier.

"Justice has not been done, the NIA & the Modi govt didn't even appeal against the bail that was given to the accused within 90 days. This was a complete biased investigation which will weaken our resolve to fight terrorism," said Owaisi.

Nine persons died and 58 others were injured in the 2007 Mecca blast. All the five accused in the case, including Swami Aseemanand, were acquitted by a special NIA court in Hyderabad on Monday.

Ten persons were named as accused in the case but only five were arrested and sent up for trial. The five who faced trial included Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Swami Aseemanand alias Naba Kumar Sarkar, Bharat Mohan Lal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajendra Choudhary. Two other accused in the case, Sandeep V Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra are still absconding, while another accused Sunil Joshi had died.

NIA investigation against the two absconding accused in the case is still under way.