In Mecca Masjid blast case, judge who acquitted all five accused resigns

HYDERABAD: Hours after declaring all the accused not guilty in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast, a judge resigned at a Hyderabad court. Justice Reddy this morning declared that all five accused would be acquitted for lack of evidence. Their guilt, said the judge, had not been established by any evidence. Swami Aseemanand, a monk who has been linked to three terror attacks, was among five men acquitted. Nine people were killed and over 50 injured when the blast ripped through the historic mosque during Friday prayers. It took a few minutes for the 11-year-old case to come crashing down as the judget said the country's top anti-terror body, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), had failed to prove anyone's guilt. The NIA officer in charge of the case, Pratibha Ambedkar, was abruptly removed two weeks ago.