Eleven years after a powerful explosion ripped through Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid killing nine people and injuring 58 others, the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court acquitted all five accused citing lack of evidence.

Ten persons allegedly belonging to right-wing organisations were named as accused in the case. Of the ten, eight were chargesheeted, including Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swamy Aseemanand.

However, only five of them - Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Aseemanand, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajendra Chowdhary - had faced trial in the case.

Two other accused - Sandeep V Dange, a former RSS pracharak, and Ramchandra Kalsangra, electrician-cum-RSS activist from Madhya Pradesh - are still at large. Some reports said they may have been killed. One of the accused, Sunil Joshi, an RSS pracharak, was murdered during the course of investigation.

WHAT HAPPENED ON MAY 18, 2007

The blast, which took place at Mecca Masjid near the iconic Charminar in Hyderabad during the Friday prayers at 1:25 pm on May 18, 2007, was caused by a cellphone-triggered pipe bomb placed near the Wuzukhana (where devotees perform ablutions) of the mosque. While five people died on the spot, four succumbed to injuries later.

Around 10,000 people were present inside the Mecca Masjid at the time of blast. Two live IEDs were found which were later defused by the Hyderabad Police.

Initially registered by Hussaini Alam police, the case was handed over to the CBI after a huge uproar claiming that innocent men were being framed. Finally, the probe was handed over to NIA which made several arrests including Swami Aseemanand and Lakshman Das Maharaj.

The agency listed 226 prosecution witnesses out of which 64 turned hostile. Two out of the eight chargesheeted accused in the case -- Swami Aseemanand and Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai were out on bail, while three others were in prison.

Aseemanand was first arrested by CBI in 2010 but was granted conditional bail in 2017. Earlier, he was acquitted in the Ajmer dargah blast case. He also got bail in the Samjhauta Express blast case of 2014.

"Angered by the spate of terror attacks committed on Hindus and their temples", he conspired to avenge such acts by attacking Muslims. As per Aseemanand's statement to the NIA he said, "bomb ka jawab bomb" (bomb for a bomb).

The agency chargesheet further stated, "Aseemanand felt that during the independence, Nizam of Hyderabad decided to leave for Pakistan, therefore, the city should be taught a lesson too."

Apparently, Aseemanand has made several U-turns during the entire probe. He made a confession before the metropolitan magistrate of Tis Hazari court in Delhi where he confessed to the conspiracies, including the Mecca Masjid blast. However, he later retracted from his statement.

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