Special NIA court grants bail to Aseemanand in Samjhauta blast case

Chandigarh: Swami Aseemanand, the prime accused in the 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, was granted bail by a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Panchkula district of Haryana on Friday.

Aseemanand furnished a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh along with two surety bonds of equal amount in the court but he will have to remain behind the bars as he is facing trial in other cases as well.

“The bail orders of Aseemanand were issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Subsequently, he submitted the bail bonds before Special Judge Gulab Singh’s trial court and those have been accepted. He, however, will have to remain in prison as he is facing trial in other explosion cases,” said NIA’s special prosecutor R K Handa.

Other highlights:

• Aseemanand is currently lodged in Haryana’s Ambala Central Jail.
• Even after getting bail in Samjhauta case, Aseemanand will be kept under custody for trial in Ajmer blast case.
• He is a member of Abhinav Bharat, a right-wing Hindu group.
• He has been in jail since 2010.

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