The old city of Hyderabad remained peaceful with the police making elaborate security arrangements in the sensitive areas of the city during the eighth anniversary of the deadly bomb blast in the historic Mecca Masjid and the subsequent police firing. Apart from deploying the armed police pickets, policemen also intensified patrolling of lanes and bylanes of the old city to prevent any untoward incident.
Eleven people were killed and scores of others were injured when a bomb allegedly planted by the members of Hindu terror outfits exploded in the courtyard of the mosque during Friday congregation on May 18, 2007. Five more were killed when the police opened fire on protesting Muslims outside the mosque.
The anniversary was marked by a protest meeting by the Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) against the release on bail of two suspects of the blast case — lokesh Sharma and Devender Gupta — and the failure of the National Investigation Agency in opposing it.
MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, MP, also demanded the release of the Bhaskar Rao Commission report about the police firing on protestors following the blast. He wanted the State Government to take action against the police officials responsible for the firing.
Devender Gupta and lokesh Sharma who were first arrested by the Rajasthan Police in connection with the blast in Ajmer Dargah were also accused in blasts in Malegaon and Samjhauta Express. Andhra Pradesh High Court had granted them bail on March 12, 2014 but the Union Home Ministry did not give its nod to NIA to challenge the bail orders.
The Mecca Masjid blast case continues to be pending in a CBI court in Hyderabad. Earlier, it took many twists and turns.
While initially, the Hyderabad city police had suspected involvement of local Muslims in the blast and blamed it on the internal differences within Muslim groups for it, the subsequent investigations by the CBI and the NIA revealed the involvement of a Maharashtra-based Hindu organisation comprising of the RSS members including Swami Aseemanand.
Apart from Devender Gupta and lokesh Sharma of Madhya Pradesh, CBI and NIA arrested Swami Aseemanand and score of others in connection with the blast.
Hyderabad Police had also come under clouds for indiscriminately arresting 100 Muslim youth and subjecting them to torture to force them to confess their involvement in the blast. The 26 youth who were charge-sheeted were acquitted by the court.
After conducting its own probe, the NHRC ordered the State Government to pay compensation to the Muslim youth falsely implicated in the case.
Earlier, anniversaries of the tragedy were marred by the violent reactions by a fringe group headed by Viqaruddin Ahmad who fired on policemen killing one. Viqar, who was later arrested by the police died along with for associates in a shootout by the police in Nalgonda district. Police said it was a case of encounter, but his family alleged that it was cold-blooded murder.