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dpa
New Delhi
Four men accused of a 2007 bombing on a train that runs between India and Pakistan were acquitted by an Indian court on Wednesday, a lawyer for the prosecution said.
The February 18, 2007, blast on the Samjhauta Express, near the Indian city of Panipat, killed 68 people, mostly Pakistani citizens.
The Samjhauta (agreement in Hindi) Express runs twice a week between New Delhi in India and Lahore in Pakistan. It is one of two rail connections between the South Asian neighbours, a pair of countries which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged eight people, including a Hindu spiritual leader, Swami Aseemanand, for their alleged role in the attack in June 2011.
One of them died before trial. Three remain on the loose. Four of them, including Aseemanand, who heads a Hindu right-wing organization, stood trial.
All of them were acquitted by the special court in Panchkula in Haryana state on grounds that the prosecution had failed to provide enough evidence.
“The NIA special court has concluded that the investigating agency has failed to prove the conspiracy charge and ruled that accused deserve a benefit of doubt,” the counsel for NIA, RK Handa, said.
New Delhi
Four men accused of a 2007 bombing on a train that runs between India and Pakistan were acquitted by an Indian court on Wednesday, a lawyer for the prosecution said.
The February 18, 2007, blast on the Samjhauta Express, near the Indian city of Panipat, killed 68 people, mostly Pakistani citizens.
The Samjhauta (agreement in Hindi) Express runs twice a week between New Delhi in India and Lahore in Pakistan. It is one of two rail connections between the South Asian neighbours, a pair of countries which have fought three wars since their independence from British rule.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) charged eight people, including a Hindu spiritual leader, Swami Aseemanand, for their alleged role in the attack in June 2011.
One of them died before trial. Three remain on the loose. Four of them, including Aseemanand, who heads a Hindu right-wing organization, stood trial.
All of them were acquitted by the special court in Panchkula in Haryana state on grounds that the prosecution had failed to provide enough evidence.
“The NIA special court has concluded that the investigating agency has failed to prove the conspiracy charge and ruled that accused deserve a benefit of doubt,” the counsel for NIA, RK Handa, said.
