Nine years after a blast killed nine persons inside Mecca masjid here near historic Charminar of Old City, the case has become more complex throwing up new questions about the persons behind it.
Lokesh Sharma, one of the accused arrested in Mecca masjid blast case along with Devender Gupta, was also accused of involvement in the sensational Malegaon blast carried out in 2008 in Maharashtra. Five days ahead of Mecca masjid blast ninth anniversary, the NIA had decided to drop charges against Sharma along with five others including Pragya Singh Thakur in Malegaon blasts of 2008.
The NIA’s decision related to Sharma has apparently cast shadow on the prolonged investigation in Mecca masjid blast case. The common thread between the terror attacks on Mecca masjid, Malegaon and Ajmer dargah in Rajasthan was the alleged involvement of terror outfits linked to right wing ideology.
Tight-lipped
Investigators remained tight-lipped about the possible impact of their surmise that sufficient evidence was not found against Sharma to prosecute him in Malegaon blasts. “We cannot make any comment at this stage if there could be similar twists or turns in Mecca masjid blast case as well,” a police officer associated with the investigation of the case when it was reported on May 18, 2007 said.
Initially, many attributed the bomb blast inside Mecca masjid, which killed nine persons, to terror organisations like Lashkar-e-Tayaba (LeT) or Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI). Speculation was rife that HuJI commander Mohd. Abdul Shahid, a Hyderabadi youngster, got the terror attack carried out operating from Pakistan or Bangladesh.
Shahid’s role proved to be false and he was eventually got killed in Pakistan. On the day of the attack, the Hussainialam police of Hyderabad south zone registered the case. Later, it was transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation.
In December, 2010, the CBI had filed charge-sheet against Guptha and Sharma. The duo was also accused of involvement in Ajmer dargah blast case. Along with them, the CBI had named four others in Mecca masjid blast case.
Eventually, the case was handed over to NIA. In May, 2011, the NIA officials filed charge-sheet against Nabakumar Sarkar also known as Swamy Aseemanand who initially confessed to have the role of right wing activists in Mecca masjid blast but later retracted his statement.
Not much progress was reported in the case after this charge-sheet. Latest finding of NIA that there is no adequate evidence to prosecute Sharma has triggered speculation if Mecca masjid blast case too would witness such twists.
