Swami Aseemanand gets bail in 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case

NEW DELHI (INDIA): A court here granted bail to Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 Mecca Masjid bomb blast case.nnThe court has already granted bail to three others in the case.nnThe court of Fourth Metropolitan Sessions Judge also granted bail to Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai, a co-accused in the case.nnSpecial Judge Ravinder Reddy granted bail to both Aseemanand and Rateshwar with the direction to produce two local sureties of Rs 50,000 each.nnAseemanand shall not leave Hyderabad without court’s permission and remain present for the trial when required, the judge said.nnSwami Aseemanand, whose real name is Naba Kumar Sarkar, was arrested on November 19, 2010, from Haridwar in connection with the blast at the Mecca Masjid here on May 18, 2007, which had killed nine persons.nnOn March 8 this year, Aseemanand and six others were acquitted in the 2007 Ajmer blast case by a court in Jaipur.nnHe was then brought from Jaipur and lodged in a prison here.nnSeeking bail, the defence pointed out that Aseemanandhad been acquitted in the Ajmer case while an Ambala court had granted him bail in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case.nnA total of 166 witnesses have been examined in the trial of the Mecca Masjid case and over 100 are yet to be examined.nnThree of the eight accused in the case are already on bail. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had taken over the case from the CBI.nn nnSource: Press Trust of India