Family cries conspiracy after acquittal.
While some victims and relatives of those killed in the Mecca Masjid bomb blast said they have not got justice after court's verdict on Monday, family members of Swami Aseemanand alleged that Congress government conspired against him to keep the Muslim community happy.
A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Hyderabad today acquitted five persons including right-wing activist Swami Aseemanand in the case, ruling that the prosecution failed to prove charges against them.
A powerful blast, triggered by remote control, had ripped through the over four centuries-old mosque here during an assembly of devotees on May 18, 2007 when they had gathered for Friday prayers, killing nine people and wounding 58. “The Congress government conspired against my brother to keep the Muslim community happy. It was a ploy just to get minority votes and my brother was falsely arrested," Aseemanand’s brother Susanta Sarkar told News18.
He also said that former Home Minister P Chidambaram and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi should explain why Aseemanand was arrested.He also claimed that in the tribal belt, people consider him a god. Stating that the truth always prevail, Assemanand’s mother Pramila demanded a stern action against those who framed him. Welcoming the NIA court verdict, the VHP termed it as a "slap on the face" of the previous "anti-Hindu" UPA government.
In his first statement after assuming the charge of the VHP's working international president, Alok Kumar said, "For the sake of minority appeasement, the Congress government had hatched a conspiracy to save real culprits in the name of Hindu terrorism." He further said Pakistan was the happiest country at that time when the innocent Hindus were implicated while real culprits moved freely.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, however, dodged a query on the acquittal of Aseemanand, which has prompted BJP to seek his apology for his party 'using' terms like "saffron terror" in the past.
Reacting to the court verdict, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the Congress has long "defamed" Hindus for votes and demanded that party president Rahul Gandhi and his predecessor Sonia Gandhi apologise for terms such as "saffron terror" and "Hindu terror."
With PTI inputs
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