Swami Aseemanand, six others acquitted in Ajmer dargah blast case

An National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Jaipur on Wednesday convicted three persons and acquitted seven, including Swami Aseemanand, in the 2007 Ajmer dargah blast case. Of the three convicts, Sunil Joshi was murdered in December 2007.

The court, which imposed a fine of Rs. 1 lakh on the other two convicts — Bhavesh Patel and Devendra Kumar, will sentence them on March 16.

The explosion in the 13th century dargah of Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti on October 11, 2007, during Ramzan, left three people dead and 17 injured.

The shrine was packed to capacity with about 5,000 devotees when the blast occurred at the time of ‘iftaar’ (breaking of fast).

The case was transferred in 2011 from the Rajasthan Anti-Terrorism Squad to the NIA, which filed three supplementary charge sheets in the court. The case moved fast-track after the change of government at the Centre in 2014. Besides Lokesh and Chandrashekhar, other accused in the case are Swami Aseemanand, Bhavesh Patel, Harshad Solanki, Devendra Kumar, Mehul Kumar, Mukesh Vasani and Bharat Bhai. Three other accused are absconding, while one of the accused, Sunil Joshi, was murdered in December 2007.

Swami Aseemanand’s confession in the case before a metropolitan magistrate at Tis Hazari courts in Delhi made headlines in December 2010. He had stated that he and other activists were involved in bombings at various places of worship across the country for taking revenge against the terror acts of Muslims.