Swami Aseemanand gets bail in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case

HYDERABAD: A court here on Thursday granted bail to Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast case. The court has already granted bail to three others in the case. The court of Fourth Metropolitan Sessions Judge also granted bail to Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai, a co-accused in the case. Special Judge Ravinder Reddy granted bail to both Aseemanand and Rateshwar with the direction to produce two local sureties of Rs 50,000 each. Aseemanand shall not leave Hyderabad without court's permission and remain present for the trial when required, the judge said. Swami Aseemanand, whose real name is Naba Kumar Sarkar, was arrested on November 19, 2010, from Haridwar in connection with the blast at the Mecca Masjid here on May 18, 2007, which had killed nine persons. On March 8 this year, Aseemanand and six others were acquitted in the 2007 Ajmer blast case by a court in Jaipur. He was then brought from Jaipur and lodged in a prison here. Seeking bail, the defence pointed out that Aseemanandhad been acquitted in the Ajmer case while an Ambala court had granted him bail in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case. A total of 166 witnesses have been examined in the trial of the Mecca Masjid case and over 100 are yet to be examined. Three of the eight accused in the case are already on bail. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the case from the CBI.