CBI files chargesheet in Mecca Masjid blast case
Hyderabad, Dec 13 (INN): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed a chargesheet in the XIV Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in connection with the Mecca Masjid blast case, which had claimed nine lives. CBI officials said that the chargesheet was filed against Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, who are among five persons already named as accused in the chargesheet filed by the Rajasthan ATS in the 2007 Ajmer blast case. The CBI stated that it may take some more time to file a chargesheet against Swami Asimanand.
The charge-sheet seeks to explain the role of the Lokesh Sharma and Devendra Gupta in the conspiracy to bomb the largest Masjid in South India. The CBI would file chargesheet against Swami Asimanand after taking him to Gujarat and other states retrace the steps taking during the planning of the conspiracy. The CBI had earlier sought an extension of a further 90 day period after the mandatory three-month period expired in September, saying that the investigation into the conspiracy was not yet complete.
Besides, the CBI also informed the court that Sandeep Dange and Ram Chandra Kalsangra alias Ramji, the main accused in the blast were still at large. Lokesh Sharma and Devendra Gupta have been under judicial remand since their arrest in Ajmer and subsequent shifting to Hyderabad. Their bail pleas were recently rejected by the magistrate. The two accused had been brought to the city from Ajmer on June 17 for interrogation after their arrests for their alleged role in carrying out a similar blast at shrine of Sufi saint Hazrath Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
The country's premier investigating agency believes that both the blasts were carried out by members of the Abhinav Sanstha, to which both Lokesh Sharma and Devendra Gupta, apart from Swami Asimanand belong. Five people lost their lives in the Mecca Masjid blast during Friday prayers, while nine others were killed by police firing on the protestors outside the Masjid.
News Posted: 13 December, 2010
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