Mecca Masjid blast: Bail pleas of two accused rejected

A local court on Friday rejected the bail pleas of two accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast on the ground that the involvement of the duo in other explosions was to be probed and that the prime accused in these cases were not yet arrested.

After completion of arguments from the defence and prosecution (CBI), the metropolitan sessions judge (MSJ) court at Nampally here dismissed the bail petitions of Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who are in judicial custody.

Gupta and Sharma, whose bail petitions were dimissed by the XIV additional chief metropolitan magistrate court here in November last year on the ground that investigations were still on in the Masjid blast case, had again sought bail and approached the MSJ Court last week, defence counsel N Ramachander Rao told PTI.

However, the court rejected their pleas, he said, adding the Judge observed that role of Gupta and Sharma in other blasts that occured in different parts of the country needed to be probed and that the prime accused in these cases were yet to be apprehended.

"Unlawful Activities Prevention Act has been invoked in this (blast) case. The probe is on and if the two are released at this point the investigations may get hampered and the duo may threaten the witnesses," said the court, according to Rao.

The CBI, opposing their bail pleas, said role of Gupta and Sharma was to be probed in the 2007 Samjhuta train blast and the duo cannot be released on bail as the case has international ramifications.

A cellphone-triggered pipe bomb explosion inside the Mecca Masjid during Friday prayers on May 18, 2007 left nine dead and 70 injured. Five people were killed in police firing and the clashes that erupted after the terror attack.

The CBI, in December last year, filed a charge sheet in the case against Gupta and Sharma, who were also allegedly involved in the Ajmer blast in the same year, charging them with  murder and other offences.

However, the prime accused in the case, Sandeep Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra alias Ramji, are still absconding, while another accused Swami Aseemanad is being interrogated by the central agency. One more accused, Sunil Joshi, was killed by three gunmen in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, in 2007.

Gupta and Sharma are among the five persons named as accused in the charge sheet filed by the Rajasthan ATS in the 2007 Ajmer blast.