The Andhra Pradesh high court granted conditional bail to ten Muslim youth who were arrested after the bomb blast at the historic Macca Masjid in Hyderabad on May 18, 2007.

The youth were arrested on charges of inciting people, waging war against the state and indulging in jihadi activities.

Justice P Swaroop Reddy directed the accused to appear twice a week before the station house officer of the Gopalapuram police station in Secunderabad.

The judge passed the orders on Tuesday on a bail petition moved by the accused, who submitted that they were in Cherlapally central person, on the outskirts of Hyderabad, for the last five months.

The petitioners alleged that they were illegally detained and tortured by the police before being sent to judicial remand. They also contended that the police could not establish a case against them.

Senior counsel Bal Reddy, appearing for the petitioners, submitted to the court that the police had completed their investigations and that if the petitioners were released on bail, there would be no tampering of evidence.

The police contended that the accused were apprehended on charges of inciting citizens in the name of jihad.

Following the bomb blast at Mecca Masjid, in which nine persons were killed, and the subsequent bomb blasts at Lumbini Park and Gokul Chat eatery in the city on August 25, 2007, which claimed 42 lives, the Hyderabad police had detained 54 youth. While 32 of them were released, the remaining 22 were arrested on various charges.

The high court pronounced bail orders of ten accused on the same day that a team of the National Commission for Minorities returned to Delhi after a two-day fact-finding visit to the city to probe the alleged torture and detention of Muslim youth in the wake of the bomb blasts.

The NCM team visited Cherlapally central prison and heard the versions of the 22 Muslim youth lodged there. The team also spoke to family members of the hapless youth.

The NCM team met representatives of several non-governmental organisations, Muslim political parties and organisations and civil rights groups. The team members advised the families of the arrested youth to file bail petitions in the high court and requested the NGOs to financially support them in securing bail.

The NCM team interacted with the top officials of state and city police, special chief secretary to the government and Hyderabad district collector, who stated that the all arrests were made in accordance with the law and the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.