Hyderabad:
A court in Hyderabad has granted bail to the two accused in theMakkah Masjid blast case — Devender Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, operatives of the right- wing Hindu organisation Abhinav Bharat.
They were granted bail two years and five months after the CBI arrested them in connection with the blast in Makkah Masjid. The blast on May 18, 2007 killed nine people.
Apart from them the CBI had also arrested two other accused, Swami Asimanand and Bharat Mohan Lal Ratehswar alias Bharat Bhai. All the four are also accused in many other terror-related cases, including the bomb blast in Malegaon and in the Pakistan-bound Samjhauta Express.
According to the investigating agencies, two more accused of in the Makkah Masjid case, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, were still absconding while another suspect, Sunil Joshi, was killed, allegedly by his own associates.
Suspecting the involvement of some Muslim radicals in the blast Hyderabad police had arrested more than 100 local youth and booked 26 of them in terror-related cases. While they were later acquitted by the courts and paid a paltry compensation by the state government, the involvement of Hindu right-wing elements came to light after the CBI took over the case. Presently the case is being handled by the National Investigation Agency.
