Court grants bail to Mecca Masjid blast accused

A local court on Monday granted conditional bail to Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma who are accused in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast case.

The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court granted bail to Gupta and Sharma on furnishing personal bond of Rs 50,000 each and two sureties of the same amount. The court also directed them to surrender their passports, said advocate N Ramchander who is representing Gupta and Sharma in the case.
The duo, who are presently under judicial custody in a Jaipur jail in connection with the Ajmer bomb blast case, will, however, continue to remain in the jail, he said.
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 case. While seeking bail for the duo, the defence counsel argued that there was no material against his clients as the circumstances in the case were loosely connected and investigation into the case is completed.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) opposed the bail on the ground that Gupta and Sharma could influence the witnesses if granted bail.
A cell phone-controlled pipe bomb went off at the historic Mecca Masjid during the Friday prayers on May 18, 2007, killing nine people. Five protesters were killed in the police firing after the blast.
The NIA had last year filed a charge sheet against Swami Aseemanand in the Mecca Masjid blast case and also named Indresh Kumar in this connection.
The CBI, which had earlier probed the case after registering a case in June 2007 had named six persons, all allegedly having links with a right-wing Hindu outfit.
PTI