The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on January 27 suffered a serious setback when the Kerala High Court acquitted a prime accused and dismissed an appeal against the acquittal of another accused, in what was the first case registered by the premier probe agency in the state.

The case pertained to a twin bomb blast at the Kozhikode mofussil bus stand and at the KSRTC bus stand on March 3, 2006. It was a rare case where the accused informed the authorities and the media about the location of the bombs after planting them.