On 7th anniversary, Mecca Masjid blast is a forgotten case

On Sunday, city policemen deployed in communally sensitive areas of Old City, and parts of adjacent Rajendranagar police station area of Cyberabad were instructed to be cautious in the backdrop of the seventh anniversary of the Mecca Masjid terror attack being observed. From the hue and cry over the arrest of innocent youths to the Hindu fundamentalist conspiracy, the case has seen many twists and turns. The investigation is yet to reach a conclusive end.

Six companies of para-military forces were drawn for security in Old City even as additional forces deployed after the outbreak of communal clashes were directed to remain there. “We’re prepared to meet any eventuality,” said South zone DCP Sarvashresth Tripathi.

The NIA probe into the case, already hamstrung with dry leads and lack of credible evidence to sustain charges during trials, recently received a big judicial jolt as well. Andhra Pradesh high Court granted bail to the two accused, Devendra Gupta and Lokesh Sharma, saying that the charges against them don’t appear to be ‘prima facie true.’

May 18 marked seven years since the blast at Hyderabad's Mecca Masjid. However, there has been no breakthrough in the case with the investigation going on at a snail's pace. People in the locality say that the police are trying to pin the blame on two sects of the community while shielding the real culprits.

Fourteen innocent lives were lost on that tragic day, when the blast ripped through Mecca Masjid in the old city area of Hyderabad.

As per official government records, around 100 Muslim youths were detained following the blasts. All of them were released by the courts during the course of time, as the police failed to establish any connection they had with the blasts.

The Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee (CLMC), which has single-handedly fought from day one for the justice of these Muslim youth, says that even today justice has not yet been delivered.

On the occasion of completion of seven years of Mecca Masjid bomb blast and subsequent police firing, Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee paid homage to the martyrs and expressed its solidarity with the families of victims of bomb, police and media terror.

A statement released by CLMC on Sunday said, “This committee expresses its grief and sorrow on the conditions of victims and their families and also expresses its anguish and concern over the negligence of the government towards the serious issues and inaction by the Indian investigating agencies even after knowing who the real terrorists are. It seems that the government of India and investigating agencies are not serious to investigate this case, instead they are behaving in a biased manner because the victims are Muslims and the criminals are Hindutva terrorists.”

Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee in the year 2007, filed a petition in the High Court of Andhra Pradesh challenging the police firing on innocent Muslims after the Mecca Masjid bomb blast, requesting them to register the murder case on such police personnel who ordered and opened the fire. The AP High Court admitted the petition and issued notices to the state and police officials as to why a case should not be registered under the section 302. Andhra Pradesh government appointed senior lawyers to defend its police officers. After a number of hearings, the AP High Court directed the petitioners to approach the Supreme Court saying, “The issue involved in this matter has already been adjudicated and decided by a Larger Bench of this Court. However, against the said decision the State Government has approached the Supreme Court. Learned counsel for the State informs that the said matter is still pending before the Apex Court. In the circumstances, we close the writ petition permitting the petitioner to approach the Supreme Court, if so advised in accordance with law, as the matter is sub-judice before the Apex Court”.

Though CLMC will proceed and approach the Apex Court as per the directions of AP High Court, but also states that when the matter was in the High Court, the AP government not only defended the tainted police personnel by appointing top most lawyers, but also delayed the process from 2007 to 2014 and in this period of time the tainted policemen were awarded and rewarded with promotions of higher posts.

It also said that, “The state government has not even presented the torture report by Advocate Ravichander who was appointed by the AP State Minority Commission, in which it is clearly mentioned that police brutally tortured the Muslim youth and also gave recommendations for their counselling and rehabilitation.” CLMC general secretary Lateef Mohammad Khan said that although the government had stated that 100 youths had been arrested, the real picture was entirely different.

“In my knowledge, there were at least 300 youths who had been detained in this case. The compensation, which has been awarded, has been very unfair. Only 20 persons have got a compensation of Rs 3 lakh. The government says that 80 others have been compensated Rs 20,000, but in reality only 40 have received the amount. The police did nothing but ruined their lives,” he said.

“What is more ironic is that we had sought action against those police officials who, for their selfish reasons arrested these youth. Our battle to take action against those responsible cops continues till date. The families and also the youth who had faced this torture will get justice only when these cops are booked and action is taken against them,” Khan added.