Samjhauta blast: NIA not to challenge conditional bail to Swami Aseemanand

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) will not challenge the conditional bail granted to Naba Kumar Sarkar alias Swami Aseemanand by the Punjab and Haryana high court last year in the Samjhauta blasts case. The Union home ministry on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that the NIA, upon examining the feasibility of filing a special leave petition, found no grounds to challenge the order in the Supreme Court. The NIA's decision is bound to be questioned not only at home, with the Opposition likely to charge the government with going soft on terror cases involving right-wing outfits, but also across the border in Pakistan. Of the 68 killed in the February 2007 explosions, 42 were Pakistani citizens.