The court also observed that working for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh does not make a person communal and anti-social.
The Nizam was laid to rest at the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad with full State honours. Thousands of mourners took part in the funeral procession.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
It is said that terror operatives were under the impression that the Mecca Masjid blasts were triggered off by some Hindu outfits and hence to avenge this, the twin blasts at Hyderabad were executed.
Dressed in traditional finery, Muslims across India offered prayers at mosques and eidgahs on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan.
Almost five years after they were arrested, tortured and falsely implicated in terror-related cases, Rayees Ahmad, Dr Ibrahim Junaid and 14 other youths from Hyderabad will get compensation from the same government machinery which had labelled him as "anti-national".
'We were expecting death sentences, but now the court has acquitted them, despite Aseemanand himself admitting to his crime in front of a judge.' More importantly, it seems the tag of 'Hindu Terror' coined by the United Progressive Alliance government was wrong all along. Amjedullah Khan, spokesperson for the Majlis Bachao Tehreek, has been tracking the Mecca Masjid blast case from day one and was also involved in securing the release of more than 100 Muslims youths who were falsely accused in different terror cases in the aftermath of the blast. He spoke to Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com about the acquittal of Swami Aseemanand and what it means.
What you need to know about Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the 8th Nizam, who will be laid to rest in Hyderabad today.
The Muslim community in Hyderabad has accused Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy of failing to keep the promises he made about helping the men and women wrongly accused of the Mecca Masjid blasts.
The CBI on Tuesday said it has not questioned any RSS functionary during its ongoing probe into Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blast cases.
The National Investigation Agency says that with the arrest of Rajendra Chowdhary the probe in the Samjhauta Express, Mecca Masjid and Ajmer blasts is almost complete. Vicky Nanjappa reports
'If there is effective prosecution, only then we will get justice, but first let them (NIA) run the case honestly in court.'
The Samjautha Express, Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts are inter-linked, as per the investigative agencies and it is only a matter of time before the National Investigating Agency closes them. The NIA has a dual job in all these cases now. Apart from having a lot to do they also have a lot to undo.
On a day when Muslims in Hyderabad observed a bandh by shutting down their businesses and shops and police was on a high alert fearing further terror attacks to avenge the blast and the firing, Chidambaram told a television channel that those arrested in connection with the blast in Ajmer Dargah, were also involved in Mecca Masjid blast.
While there is a debate still on whether Swami Aseemanand actually confessed on his own after being touched by the conduct of a former accused in the Mecca Masjid case or that he did so under duress, the fact remains that there is a ray of hope among many youths who continue to languish in jails after being implicated in the above mentioned cases.
There is a link among the blasts carried out at Ajmer Dargah, Mecca Masjid and Malegaon with self-styled right-wing group Abhinav Bharat believed to be behind them, Central Bureau of Investigation said on Monday.
Dr Ibrahim Ali Junaid was accused of plotting the Mecca Masjid blasts. After spending two years in prison, he was acquitted of all charges. Today he is back home, trying to restart his life.
Five persons, including founder of local terror group Tehreek-Ghalba-e-Islam Viqaruddin Ahmed, were on Tuesday killed in an encounter with the police in Telangana's Warangal district.
Sources said that there could be similarities between the explosives used in Mecca Masjid blast in Hyderabad in May this year and Satudrday's explosion.
Aseemanand, a member of right-wing Hindu group Abhinav Bharat, has been in jail since December 2010.
According to the police, the results of the test will be helpful in cracking the twin blasts case as well as in gathering more information about the Mecca Masjid blast.
"I have never seen such heart-rending scenes and wailing and shrikes of the injured. It will haunt me all my life."
Realising serious lapses in the process of hearing, a division bench of Andhra Pradesh high court has recalled its order against payment of compensation to Muslim youth of Hyderabad who were illegally detained, tortured and booked by the city police in the aftermath of blast in Mecca Masjid more than six years ago.
Wearing multiple identities of religious preacher, science student and terror accused, the saffron robed Aseemanand, once known as the most wanted man in India, was the alleged link between the series of three bombings that ripped through India in 2007.
Will the NIA 'get conviction' in Mecca Masjid blast, Ajmer Dargha blast and Malegaon blasts cases, he asked.
In shocking revelations, Swami Aseemanand claims though RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was not directly involved with the terror strikes, he was aware that such attacks were being planned. Vicky Nanjappa finds out more
'The country's home ministry has misused investigating agencies in the most illegal, corrupt, inhuman and unjustified way to trap innocents like me in terror traps,' says RSS leader Indresh Kumar, who terror accused Swami Aseemanand alleged knew of plots to bomb the Samjhauta Express, the Mecca Masjid and the Ajmer Dargah.
A new theory has emerged surrounding the death of former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh man Sunil Joshi -- he was murdered over a business tussle. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The recent arrests made by the National Investigation Agency in connection with the Samjhauta Express blast case could see the probe meeting a logical end soon. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Judge Dinesh Gupta let off the right-wing activist and six others, giving them "benefit of doubt".
With the Hyderabad police rounding up several Muslim youth for questioning in connection with last week's twin blasts in Hyderabad, some civil rights groups are up in arms and say witch-hunting will only prove fatal to the probe. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
There are three angles of investigations being taken by the Intelligence Bureau and the Hyderabad police in the twin blasts that have killed at least16 people in a busy market in Hyderabad.
Communal tension over the disputed temple next to historic Charminar continued for second day in Hyderabad as stray incidents of violence took place soon after the Friday prayers.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, "Is Trump God that 70 lakh people will gather around to welcome him. He is coming here for his own interests. Trump is not doing the trade deal. He just wants to work for the benefit of America and is not coming to make us happy."
Although the Hyderabad blasts bear the signature of the Indian Mujahideen, the police and the Intelligence Bureau say that it is too early to pin point the blame on the infamous terror outfit.
At least 10 people, who were allegedly involved in a spate of terror attacks in different parts of the country, had links with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or its affiliated organisations, Union Home Secretary R K Singh said on Tuesday.
The Muslims in the Old City of Hyderabad would be reminded of the police action against them following the Mecca Masjid and twin blasts. However, this time around, they say that the police have not jumped the gun and would look to investigate this matter in a free and fair manner.
Despite leads, NIA have failed to achieve any breakthrough in the 'Hindu terror' cases. Vicky Nanjappa tells you why.
More than a lakh Muslims offered prayers at Hyderabad's historic Mecca Masjid on Jummatul Vidaa or the last Friday of Ramzan today.
Investigative agencies are finally looking at the possibility of a Hindutva terror network. Aseemanand's alleged confession and the earlier arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Shrikant Purohit have shown the trail of the Hindutva terror network, which has turned the course of investigations into the bombings of Malegaon, Samjhauta Express, Ajmer Sharif and Mecca Masjid bomb blast cases.
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