The Mecca Masjid blast occurred on 18 May 2007 inside the Mecca Masjid, (or "Makkah Masjid") a mosque located in the old city area of Hyderabad,^[2] capital of the Indian state of Telangana located very close to Charminar. The blast was caused by a cellphone-triggered pipe bomb placed near the place where ablutions are performed. Two further live IEDs were found and defused by the police.^[3][4] Sixteen people were reported dead in the immediate aftermath, of whom five were killed by the police firing after the incident while trying to quell the mob.^[1]

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Mecca Masjid Blast Hyderabad Hyderabad (India)
Location	Hyderabad, Telangana, India17.360106°N 78.473427°E / 17.360106; 78.473427
Date	18 May 2007 13:15 IST ((UTC+5.30))
Target	Mecca Masjid
Attack type	Cyclotol activated by cellphone
Deaths	16[1]
Injured	100

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On 16 April 2018, the NIA Court acquitted all 11 who were accused in the blasts, citing lack of evidence.^[5]

The bomb exploded around 1:15 pm in Mecca Masjid, a 400-year-old mosque in Hyderabad.^[3] The IED contained cyclotol, a 60:40 mixture of RDX and TNT,^[6] filled in a 10-inch (250 mm) by 3-inch (76 mm) pipe.^[7] The bomb was placed under a heavy marble platform, which took the force of the impact and saved many lives. Two more IEDs were found, one 100 meters away from the blast site and the other near the main gate. Both of them were defused 3 hours after the blast.^[7]

The blast occurred near the open air section of the Mecca Masjid. At the time of the blast more than 10,000 people were inside the mosque premises, for the Friday prayers.^[3] The injured were treated at the Osmania hospital in Hyderabad.^[8]

Following this Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra were put on alert. State Home Minister K Jana Reddy said the blast, which injured over fifty people in addition to the death toll, could be the act of foreign elements.^{[citation needed]}

Five individuals died as a result of the police firing, which caused considerable controversy. The Telegraph reports:^[9]

Six rounds were fired in the afternoon and evening to prevent shops and public property from being damaged, including petrol pumps and ATMs. One person was killed in the firing in the Moghalpura area, while two fell to the police bullets elsewhere. Another lost his life when the police had to pull the trigger to control a mob trying to break into an ATM.

According to police commissioner Balwinder Singh, his men resorted to firing after water cannons, tear gas and baton-charge failed to bring the mob fury under control.

It is reported that^[10] a frenzied mob attacked state-owned road transport corporation buses, forcing the closure of Falaknuma bus depot.

According to the police, the rioters were trying to set fire to a petrol pump.^[11] Inspector P. Sudhakar of Falaknuma police station, who has been removed from his position on the charge of opening fire `indiscriminately' to control the rampaging mobs^[12] stated:

"While I asked my subordinates to be on high alert, mobs from Shalibanda and the mosque came towards Moghalpura pelting stones. They set ablaze a wine shop and charged towards a petrol pump where we were stationed."

The mobs took out petrol from the dispenser and sprinkled it on the room. "When they tried to ignite it with the help of dry grass, I ordered my men to open fire with .303 rifles to disperse them," he says. "As the situation turned worse, I sought additional forces. Quick Reaction teams along with Moghalpura Inspector arrived and scattered the crowd by opening fire." At least 10 persons, including policemen, could have been killed if fire orders were not issued, he insists.

After the bombing, two police cases were opened at the Hussaini Alam Police Station, one for the exploded bomb and one for the unexploded bomb. On 9 June 2007, the former was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.^[13]

The NIA began the probe in April 2011 after the initial investigations by the local police and the chargesheet filed by the CBI. 226 witnesses were examined during the trial and about 411 documents exhibited. The verdict was pronounced by a special NIA court acquitting all the accused due to lack of evidence.^[40][41]

The Special NIA judge Ravindra Reddy resigned post the verdict.^[42]

In late 2011, Aseemanand wrote a petition to President of India Pratibha Patil describing torture allegedly meted out to him during his confinement, prompting the Punjab and Haryana high courts to issue a notice to the National Investigation Agency to investigate the allegations of torture.^[29][43]

In January 2013, the then Indian Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, of Indian National Congress, accused Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bharatiya Janata Party for setting up camps to train Hindu Terrorism including planting bombs in 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings, Mecca Masjid blast and 2006 Malegaon blasts.^[44] Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh spokesperson Ram Madhav responded to this allegation by accusing Shinde of pandering to Islamist groups like Jamaat-ud-Dawah and Lashkar-e-Taiba.^[45] In February 2013, after BJP threatened to boycott the parliament during the Budget session, Shinde apologised for his remarks and said that he had no intention to link terror to any religion and that there was no basis for suggesting that terror can be linked to organisations mentioned in his earlier speech.^[46]

In September 2013, Yasin Bhatkal confessed that Indian Mujahideen had bombed two other places in Hyderabad later in August 2007 to avenge Mecca Masjid blast which was then allegedly attributed to Hindu fundamental groups.^[47]