Political reactions came in soon after a special NIA court in Hyderabad acquitted five people who were accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast. The court acquitted the five, including Aseemanand due to a lack of evidence.
According to media reports, the NIA listed 226 prosecution witnesses, of which 64 turned hostile, including Lieutenant Colonel Shrikanth Purohit, who was an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
Following the verdict, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that justice had not been served.
"# MMasjid Blast case verdict majority of witness turned hostile after June 2014, NIA didn’t pursue the case as expected from it /was not allowed by “Political Masters”Qs is what will be left of Criminal Justice system if such biased prosecutions continue Justice has nt been DONE," Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted.
"#MMasjid Blast case verdict - Justice has not been done ,NIA & Modi govt didn’t even Appeal against Bail that was given to Accused within 90 days this was a complete biased investigation which will weaken our resolve to Fight Terrorism ,MMasjid 9 people died many injured," he added.
# MMasjid Blast case verdict majority of witness turned hostile after June 2014 ,NIA didn’t pursue the case as expected from it /was not allowed by “Political Masters”Qs is what will be left of Criminal Justice system if such biased prosecutions continue Justice has nt been DONE
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 16, 2018
#MMasjid Blast case verdict - Justice has not been done ,NIA & Modi govt didn’t even Appeal against Bail that was given to Accused within 90 days this was a complete biased investigation which will weaken our resolve to Fight Terrorism ,MMasjid 9 people died many injured
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) April 16, 2018
RVS Mani, the former Under Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs during the UPA government told ANI that he had expected the verdict.
“I had expected it. All the pieces of evidence were engineered, otherwise, there was no Hindu terror angle,” he said.
“People who perpetrated attack (Mecca Masjid) were protected through misuse of agency (NIA), this is what is alarming. How do you compensate those who suffered & were maligned? Will Congress or anyone else who propagated this theory compensate them?” he added.
I had expected it. All the pieces of evidence were engineered, otherwise, there was no Hindu terror angle: RVS Mani, former Under Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs on all accused in Mecca Masjid blast case acquitted pic.twitter.com/d8lDnqE5cG
— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2018
People who perpetrated attack(Mecca Masjid) were protected through misuse of agency(NIA), this is what is alarming. How do you compensate those who suffered&were maligned?Will Congress or anyone else who propagated this theory compensate them?:RVS Mani, former MHA Under Secretary pic.twitter.com/jD7bmKeDKh
— ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2018
Reacting to this, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra, in his statement, said that the Congress had spread lies just for a political reason.
“RVS Mani is himself saying that at the time, Congress changed files, spread myths and lies - to hide the truth, to change the truth, to change whatever was already submitted in the court through affidavits, this is what Mr Chidambaram and others in the Congress dispensation were doing, just in order to prove that there is something called ‘saffron terror’. If they have even the slightest amount of humanity for the community and consider it theirs, then the then Congress President Sonia Gandhi and current president Rahul Gandhi have to come out and apologise. Crores of Indians - whether they are Hindus, Muslims, Sikh or Christian - crores of Indians demand that for your small political reason, you tried to give an insult such a massive religion - Hindustan demands an apology from you,” Sambit Patra said.
“Congress coined the term ‘Hindu Terror’, now after the court verdict on Mecca Masjid blast, the party stands exposed. Will Rahul Gandhi take out a midnight march with a lighted lamp and apologise for defaming the Hindu religion?” he added.
The Home Minister at the time of the blast, Shivraj Patil told News18, “Witnesses that went hostile should be cross-examined. It is a failure of the person who has not come to the correct conclusion and has committed the crime”.